Statutory Paternity Pay Calculator

Who qualifies

• 26 weeks' continuous service by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, or the week the adoption match is notified.
• Average weekly earnings at or above the lower earnings limit.
• The employee is the biological father, the mother's or adopter's spouse, civil partner or partner, or the intended parent in a surrogacy arrangement.
• They have or expect to have responsibility for the child's upbringing.

Notice and flexibility

1. Notice of entitlement is given by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth.
2. 28 days' notice is required for each period of leave, and that notice can be varied with the same notice period.
3. Leave can be taken as one block of two weeks, or two separate blocks of one week.
4. All leave must be taken within 52 weeks of the birth or placement.
5. Employees who do not qualify for pay may still qualify for leave, and vice versa in rare cases.

How it interacts with other family leave

• Paternity leave cannot be taken after shared parental leave has been taken for the same child.
• Shared parental leave allows up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay to be split between parents, and needs its own notice regime.
• Unpaid parental leave gives 18 weeks per child up to their 18th birthday, in blocks of a week, capped at four weeks per child per year.
• Employees are protected from detriment or dismissal for taking or seeking to take family leave, and such dismissals are automatically unfair with no qualifying service.