Additional Paternity Leave
and
Other Key Regulations coming into force in April 2010

As mentioned in our recent ezine, “Extension of Paternity Leave”, the Government announced that fathers would soon be gaining the right to take up to 6 full months’ paternity leave.

Following on from that announcement, the House of Lords recently approved a range of regulations, which came into force earlier this month, bringing about changes to allow employees to claim additional paternity leave.

Previous Position

Employed fathers were previously entitled to take up to 2 weeks paid paternity leave on the birth or adoption of a child for which they have parental responsibility.

Working mothers are entitled to 52 weeks maternity leave of which up to 39 weeks will be paid leave payable either as ‘Statutory Maternity Pay’ or ‘Maternity Allowance’. Where a couple adopt a child, one may take adoption leave (a period of 52 weeks) and the other may take paternity leave. This also applies to couples of the same sex living together.

New Position

The new regulations came into force at the beginning of April 2010, however, they will only apply to parents of babies due on or after 3 April 2011 and adoptive parents who are notified of having been matched with a child on or after that date (or for overseas adoptions, where the child enters the UK on or after that date).

The new regulations affect both paternity leave and paternity pay entitlements.

Additional Paternity Leave

The earliest a father/partner will be able to take Additional Paternity Leave (“APL”) will be 20 weeks from the child’s date of birth. The minimum period of APL will be 2 consecutive weeks. Beyond that, APL may be taken in multiples of complete weeks in one continuous period up to a maximum of 26 weeks in total. A father/partner will be required to give a minimum of 8 weeks’ notice of their intention to take APL. Within 28 days of receiving this request, the employer must confirm the relevant start and end dates of the father/partner’s period of APL to them.

Additional Statutory Paternity Pay

A father/partner will be entitled to receive paternity pay at the same rate and calculated in the same way as existing statutory paternity pay. The regulations ensure that the rate of pay is linked to the basic rate of pay that is currently available under statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay. This rate increased on 4th April 2010 to £124.88 per week from the old rate of £123.06.

To qualify for Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (“ASPP”), however, the mother must have been entitled to maternity allowance, statutory maternity pay or statutory adoption pay and must have returned to work.

The number of weeks of ASPP payable will depend on the number of weeks the mother has left of her entitlement to maternity allowance/statutory maternity pay/statutory adoption pay prior to the start of ASPP.

Whilst the legislation has already come into force now, it should be emphasised that the regulations will only apply to the parents of babies due or adopted babies placed/brought into the UK on or after 3 April 2011. It is hoped that this long run-in period will give both the Government and employers the necessary time to prepare for the practical and cultural changes that will take place from April next year.

Other Key Regulations 

The following regulations also come into force in April 2010:

1. The Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2010 provides for certain social security benefits to be increased. These benefits include statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay and statutory adoption pay which saw a small increase from £123.06 to £124.88 per week from 4 April 2010. Statutory sick pay, however, was not increased and remains at £79.15 per week.
2. The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 provide that the Tribunal Service may forward a claim, or extracts from it, to a prescribed regulator where the claimant alleges that he or she has suffered a detriment or been dismissed for making a protected disclosure.
3. The Social Security (Medical Evidence) and Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) Amendment Regulations 2010 Regulations 2010 introduced changes to the format of medical certificates  and the rules associated with their completion. These regulations came into force on 6 April 2010. Click here for the previous e-zine on this subject.

Further Information

For further information on the issues raised in this ezine, please contact Murray McCall, Alan Glazer or your usual contact within the Employment Team.


This bulletin is for general information only and does not constitute legal, investment or other professional advice. Please contact us should you require advice on any particular legal issue. Anderson Strathern LLP accepts no responsibility for any loss that may arise if reliance is placed on any information or opinions expressed in this bulletin.