Family leave
Paternity leave as a day-one right: what changed and what did not
Three reforms in two years have reshaped paternity leave in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has kept the older rules.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Since 6 April 2026, paternity leave in England, Scotland and Wales is a day-one right: section 16 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 removed the 26-week qualifying period, so any employee who is the father, the mother’s partner or an intended parent can take it from the first day in the job. Section 17 of the same Act also allows paternity leave to be taken after shared parental leave, which used to cancel it. These changes build on the 2024 reform, under which the 2 weeks can be taken together or as two separate weeks at any time in the first 52 weeks after the birth. Notice is still required: the due date by the 15th week before the baby is due, and 28 days before each week of leave. Paternity pay did not change: it still needs 26 weeks of service and earnings of £129 a week. Northern Ireland keeps the 26-week condition for leave and a single block within 56 days.
Paternity leave: by when, and is it paid?
Leave must end by (Great Britain)
12 March 2028
| Paternity Pay | No: start by 13 June 2026 needed |
| Leave in Northern Ireland | No: 26 weeks’ service needed |
| Tell your employer the due date by | 5 December 2026 |
Due date taken as the 15th of the month; birth on the due date.
Three reforms, one table
Paternity leave has changed twice in Great Britain since 2024, and the rules that apply depend on the expected week of childbirth and, for the day-one right, the date the leave starts. Northern Ireland has followed neither change.
| Rule | Before April 2024 | April 2024 to April 2026 | From 6 April 2026 (GB) | Northern Ireland now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service needed for leave | 26 weeks | 26 weeks | None | 26 weeks |
| Service needed for pay | 26 weeks | 26 weeks | 26 weeks | 26 weeks |
| How the weeks are taken | One block | Together or two separate weeks | Together or two separate weeks | One block |
| Deadline | 56 days | 52 weeks | 52 weeks | 56 days |
| After shared parental leave | Not possible | Not possible | Possible | Not possible |
April 2024: two separate weeks, a year to take them
The Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 apply to babies whose expected week of birth begins after 6 April 2024. They let the employee take a single period of one or two weeks, or two non-consecutive weeks, and replaced the 56-day deadline with 52 weeks. They also split the notice: the entitlement by the 15th week before the due week, and the dates 28 days before each period of leave.
April 2026: day one, and after shared parental leave
Section 16 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 deletes the continuous employment condition from section 80A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, in force in full from 6 April 2026. Section 17 removes the bar on paternity leave once shared parental leave has been taken, and the matching bar on paternity pay in the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992. A father can now, for example, share the later months of leave with his partner and keep his two paternity weeks for the end of the first year.
Notice, including the 2026 transition
- By the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth: tell your employer the due date and that you intend to take paternity leave. For Statutory Paternity Pay this notice is the claim itself.
- At least 28 days before each week: say when it starts and whether you take one week or two. A start can be given as the day of birth or a set number of days after it.
- To move or cancel a week, give 28 days’ notice before whichever is earlier, the old date or the new one.
Removing the qualifying period created a problem for people who joined an employer too late to give notice 15 weeks before the due week. GOV.UK’s employer guide sets out the transitional rule: from 18 February 2026, an employee whose baby was due between 5 April 2026 and 25 July 2026, and who would have had fewer than 26 weeks of service in the qualifying week, did not need to give the 15-week notice of the due date. The 28-day notice still applied. For babies due from the following day, both usual notices apply.
Take a father who starts a job on 1 March 2027 with a baby due on 10 May 2027. His qualifying week ended on 30 January 2027, before he was even employed, so the due-date notice could not be given on time. Regulation 6 of the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002 covers him: where notice by that week is not reasonably practicable, it is given as soon as reasonably practicable. He should then ask for leave at least 28 days ahead. In Great Britain he can take paternity leave, ending by 7 May 2028, but is not entitled to SPP. In Northern Ireland he would not have a right to the leave.
What else comes with paternity leave
A week of leave is the number of days you normally work in a week, and the entitlement does not double for twins. Your employment rights continue during the leave, including pay rises, holiday accrual and the right to return. If the baby is stillborn from 24 weeks of pregnancy or dies after birth, you keep the right to paternity leave and pay; leave already booked can be taken, and remaining leave must be booked and taken within 8 weeks of the death, alongside parental bereavement leave and pay. Pay itself, £194.32 a week or less, is worked out in the paternity pay calculator.
Northern Ireland, in detail
nidirect sets out the rules that still apply there: 26 weeks with the employer by the end of the 15th week before the due week; one week or two consecutive weeks, never odd days; leave starting on or after the birth and ending within 56 days of it, or of the first day of the expected week if the baby is early; a single period even for a multiple birth; and no paternity leave once shared parental leave has been taken. Agency workers and office holders do not normally have the right to the leave but may get the pay. The 2024 regulations extend only to England, Wales and Scotland, and the 2026 sections amend the Employment Rights Act 1996, which does not apply in Northern Ireland; nidirect still describes the older scheme.