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You can get personalised help on what you qualify for by using the online paternity rights at work tool. The tool will give you a personalised statement of the Ordinary Paternity Leave and Pay that you may qualify for.

• Paternity rights at work tool Opens new window

Company paternity leave schemes

Some employers have their own paternity leave arrangements which are more generous than the statutory entitlement. These will normally be included in your employment contract. You can always choose the Statutory (Ordinary and Additional) Paternity Leave arrangement if this suits you better and you qualify for it.

Time off for antenatal appointments

You do not have a legal right to time off to accompany your partner to antenatal appointments. The right to paid time off only applies to pregnant employees. However, many companies recognise this is an important time and let employees take paid time off or make up the time later.

Ordinary Paternity Leave entitlement

To qualify for Ordinary Paternity Leave you must be an employee. You must be taking the time off to support the mother or carer for the baby and intend to be fully involved in their upbringing. Rights to Ordinary Paternity Leave are extra to your normal holiday allowance.

To qualify for Ordinary Paternity Leave, you must have been with your employer for at least 26 weeks by either:

• the end of the 15th week before the start of the week when the baby is due
• the end of the week you are notified you are matched with your child

You must also be either the:

• biological father of the child
• mother's husband or partner (including same-sex relationships)
• child's adopter
• husband or partner (including same-sex relationships) of the child's adopter

If you are a worker you will not qualify for Ordinary Paternity Leave but may qualify for Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay.

If you are an agency worker, office holder or subcontractor, you will not normally have the right to Ordinary Paternity Leave. However, you may be eligible for Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay.

• Understanding your employment status (employment section)

Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay

Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay is paid for up to two consecutive weeks, depending on how long you choose to take Ordinary Paternity Leave for.

• Statutory Paternity Pay (money, tax and benefits section)

What happens if you don't qualify

If you don't qualify for Ordinary Paternity Leave, your employer may be prepared to give you some time off or you could take paid holiday.

If you qualify for Ordinary Paternity Leave but not Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay you may qualify for income support while on Ordinary Paternity Leave.

• Holiday entitlements: the basics (employment section)

• Income Support (money, tax and benefits section)

• Expecting or bringing up children (money, tax and benefits section)

Length of Ordinary Paternity Leave

As long as you meet certain conditions you can take either one or two weeks' Ordinary Paternity Leave. You can't take odd days off and if you take two weeks they must be taken together.

A week is based on your usual working pattern. So if you work Mondays and Tuesdays only, a week would be two days or if you work Monday to Friday, a week would be five days.

Taking your Ordinary Paternity Leave

To qualify for Ordinary Paternity Leave, you must tell your employer:

• when the baby is due or when the child is expected to be placed with you for adoption
• whether you want one or two weeks' Ordinary Paternity Leave
• when you want your Ordinary Paternity Leave to start

You must give your employer the correct amount of notice. You should tell them in writing either:

• at least 15 weeks before the beginning of the week when the baby's due
• within seven days of being told by the adoption agency that you have been matched with a child

A simple way to give notice is to fill in a 'self-certificate'. You can download form SC3 'Becoming a parent', which works as a self-certificate.

Your Ordinary Paternity Leave can start on any day of the week (but not before the baby is born). It has to finish within 56 days of the baby's birth. If the baby is born before the week it was due, it must finish within 56 days of the first day of that week. You can start Ordinary Paternity Leave after a period of parental leave has ended.

If your partner has a multiple birth, you are only allowed one period of Ordinary Paternity Leave.

You should tell your employer the date of the birth or actual date of adoption placement in writing if your employer requests it. However, you do not have to give your employer any medical evidence of the pregnancy or birth to claim Ordinary Paternity Leave or Pay.

• Download 'Form SC3' (PDF, 100KB) Opens new window

• Help with PDF files

Not giving the correct notice

If you can't give the full notice period to your employer for a valid reason you should still give as much notice as possible. A valid reason might be, for example, if the baby arrives early or the adoption agency doesn't give you long enough notice.

You may still qualify if you meet the other conditions or would have if your baby had not been born early. If there is no valid reason (eg you simply forgot) you will lose your entitlement.

Changing your start date

You can change the date that your Ordinary Paternity Leave starts, as long as you give 28 days' notice.

Additional Paternity Leave

If your baby is due on or after 3 April 2023 you may have the right to take up to 26 weeks' Additional Paternity Leave. This is on top of your entitlement to two weeks' Ordinary Paternity Leave.

• Additional Paternity Leave and Pay

If you lose your baby

You can still take Ordinary Paternity Leave if your child is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy or born alive at any point of the pregnancy.

What to do if you have problems

If you have a problem taking your Ordinary Paternity Leave, talk to your employer first of all - it may be a simple misunderstanding. If this doesn't work, you may need to make a complaint using your employer’s grievance procedure.

• How to resolve a problem at work (employment section)