Paternity leave and pay: eligibility (2026)
A new job need not stop you taking paternity leave. Whether those weeks are paid depends on a separate set of service and earnings tests.
If you are working shifts in a care home, kitchen, shop or warehouse, a new baby does not have to mean losing your right to time off. In Great Britain, eligible employees have day-one paternity leave, but statutory pay has separate gates. Start by writing down the expected week of birth and your employer’s name, then send the notice. The deadline may already be ticking.
- Day one
- GB leave right since 6 April 2026
- £194.32
- 2026/27 weekly cap; lower earners receive 90%
- 26 wks
- service test for statutory pay, not GB leave
- 52 wks
- usual GB window to finish leave after birth
Who qualifies for paternity leave
You must have, or expect to have, responsibility for bringing up the child and take leave to care for them or support your partner. Eligible relationships include the father; the mother’s husband, civil partner or partner, including same-sex partners; an adopter’s partner or co-adopter; and an intended parent in qualifying surrogacy. The relationship conditions still apply.
Statutory leave is for employees, not all workers. The day-one reform normally covers births from 6 April 2026 or expected weeks beginning from 5 April, and adoption placements or overseas entries to Great Britain from 6 April. For an earlier birth or placement, check the transitional application rules. Our employment status guide explains who counts as an employee.
Twins or triplets do not increase the entitlement. You can take one or two whole weeks, not individual days. A week follows your normal working pattern: if you work Mondays and Tuesdays only, one week’s leave covers those two working days.
Leave is not pay: the difference that matters
Leave lets you be absent from work. Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) replaces part of your earnings during eligible time off. Qualifying for one does not establish a right to the other.
| Question | Paternity leave | Statutory Paternity Pay |
|---|---|---|
| How much? | One or two weeks, together or split | Up to two weeks at £194.32 or 90% of average earnings, whichever is lower |
| Service needed? | No minimum service from 6 April 2026 | Normally 26 weeks with the employer by the qualifying week |
| Earnings needed? | No minimum earnings | Average earnings at least equal to the applicable lower earnings limit: £129 a week for qualifying weeks in 2026/27 |
| Employment required? | Employee status when taking leave | Continuous employment up to the birth or placement, as well as the qualifying-week test |
| Can you have one without the other? | Yes: leave may be unpaid | Yes: some non-employee workers qualify for pay but must arrange time off |
Your employer may offer enhanced paternity pay, such as full salary. Its service conditions can differ from the statutory tests. Read the policy rather than assuming that either the statutory minimum or full pay applies to you.
Notice and timing: the two deadlines
For a birth, you normally declare your entitlement first and book each period of leave separately. Keep a dated copy of both notices.
- Declare your entitlement. By the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, tell your employer the expected week and confirm the relationship and responsibility conditions in writing. Weeks run Sunday to Saturday. Complete the HMRC online form, then download or print it and send it to your employer, or use their own form. Medical proof of pregnancy or birth is not required.
- Book each period. Specify the start and whether it lasts one or two weeks, with a written declaration of its purpose. Normally give at least 28 days’ notice. Count back from a fixed start date. For leave starting on the birth, count back from the expected week’s first day; for a start a set number of days after birth, add those days to that expected-week date before counting back.
- Notify changes promptly. Normally give at least 28 days’ notice before the earlier of the original and replacement starts, using the expected-week calculation for birth-linked dates. If this is not reasonably practicable, notify as soon as reasonably practicable. Tell your employer the actual birth date promptly too.
Example: a baby due on 16 January 2027
The expected week is 10–16 January. The pay qualifying week is 27 September–3 October 2026; declare entitlement by 3 October. For leave starting on the birth, book by 13 December, 28 days before the expected week’s first day. For a fixed 16 January start, book by 19 December, but leave cannot begin before the birth. Both weeks must finish within the permitted window.
Leave cannot start before the birth. It must normally finish within 52 weeks afterwards. If the baby is born before the expected week, the end of the window is measured from the first day of that expected week instead. A late birth shifts the window with the actual birth date. Do not confuse 52 weeks with a calendar year.
How statutory paternity pay works
The 2026/27 rate is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to two weeks. The rate applies from 5 April 2026. SPP is paid through payroll, with tax and National Insurance deducted where due. The employer rates and thresholds give the current figures; a later block of leave crossing an annual uprating may use a different rate.
For a birth, the normal pay tests are:
- You have at least 26 weeks’ continuous employment with the employer up to the end of any day in the qualifying week, the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth.
- You remain employed by that employer up to the birth.
- Your average weekly earnings reach the lower earnings limit applicable to the qualifying week: £129 for 2026/27, from 6 April 2026. This is not necessarily the threshold in force when a delayed block of leave starts.
- You satisfy the relationship, caring-purpose and notice conditions.
The earnings calculation normally uses a period of at least eight weeks ending on the last normal payday on or before the Saturday of the qualifying week. For monthly pay, it usually covers two monthly payments; it is not simply your current salary divided by 52. Payroll should use HMRC’s relevant-period calculation. If an early birth precedes the qualifying week, special calculation rules apply, so do not assume you fail the service test solely because the baby arrived early.
If your employer decides you do not qualify for SPP, they must explain why within 28 days using form SPP1. Keep the form and the earnings calculation if you need to challenge the decision with HMRC.
Example: three earners, two weeks off
Assume all three satisfy the other conditions and have a 2026/27 qualifying week. Amir averages £300 a week: 90% is £270, so the cap gives him £194.32 × 2 = £388.64 before deductions. Beth averages £180: 90% is £162, so she receives £324 for two weeks. Callum averages £120, below the £129 earnings limit, so he receives no SPP. His leave remains available, unpaid unless his employer’s policy provides pay.
Splitting leave and using the year
In Great Britain you can take two weeks together or as two separate one-week blocks. For example, take one week after the birth and the other when your partner returns to work six months later. Each block must be a whole week and must finish within the 52-week window. Birth-related flexibility applies where the expected week of birth begins after 6 April 2024; the 2024 regulations set the separate adoption application dates.
Since 6 April 2026, paternity leave and pay can follow shared parental leave and pay in Great Britain, within paternity’s own time window. Need longer off? Ordinary unpaid parental leave is also a day-one GB employee right from 6 April 2026, with separate notice rules and limits.
Adoption and surrogacy: what changes
One parent may take adoption leave and the other paternity leave, if each qualifies. Taking paid time off for an adoption appointment for that child prevents you claiming paternity leave or pay; decide who will use which appointment entitlement before booking it.
UK adoption. The pay qualifying week is the Sunday-to-Saturday week in which you are notified of the match. Claim leave and pay within seven days of your co-adopter or partner being matched, or as soon as reasonably practicable if that is not possible. If taking two separate weeks, give at least 28 days’ notice for the second. Leave cannot start before placement and must finish within 52 weeks of the expected placement date. See our adoption leave and pay guide for the primary adopter’s entitlement.
Overseas adoption. Leave cannot start before the child arrives and must finish within 52 weeks of the expected arrival in Great Britain. The pay qualifying week is either the week the child enters the UK or the week you want pay or leave to start. Use the overseas adoption claim form, not the UK matching rule.
For leave, notify the official-notification and expected arrival dates, with the eligibility declaration, within 28 days of the adopter receiving official notification. Give 28 days’ notice of each period, counting from expected arrival for arrival-linked leave or a fixed start date. Confirm actual entry within 28 days unless already notified. If these deadlines are not reasonably practicable, notify as soon as reasonably practicable. The 2026 amendment removes the old service-related delay to initial notice.
Surrogacy. You must be in a couple and responsible for the child with your partner. Provide a written statement that you intend to apply for a parental order within six months of the birth and expect the court to grant it. The birth-related qualifying week and notice rules apply, including the 15-week declaration and normally 28 days’ booking notice. Only one intended parent takes adoption leave; the other may take paternity leave. Our surrogacy guide explains the division.
Agency workers, contractors and the self-employed
Agency staff can be employees or workers: an agency label alone does not decide it, nor does a zero-hours contract. Agency employees can qualify for statutory leave.
Workers who are not employees have no statutory paternity leave. Some, including agency workers, can qualify for SPP if they meet the statutory pay conditions. Pay eligibility depends on the relevant employment and National Insurance treatment, not merely the label “worker”. Acas distinguishes the two rights. Arrange the absence with the agency or employer, for example as holiday or agreed unpaid leave. Our agency workers guide covers the wider rights.
Genuinely self-employed parents have neither statutory paternity leave nor SPP. Check your household’s eligibility for Universal Credit separately; it is not statutory paternity pay.
Coming in April 2029: the Budget on 28 October 2026 announced a parental allowance in Great Britain for eligible self-employed fathers, partners and adopters. Parents who miss SPP because they were recently employed, unemployed or have a broken work pattern will also be covered if they have enough work and earnings history. It is an announcement, not current law.
Two jobs? You may qualify for SPP from both employers if you meet the conditions separately in each employment. Do not add the earnings or service from different employers together to make one claim. nidirect’s statutory pay guidance explains claims from more than one employer.
If the birth does not go to plan
Stillbirth or the baby’s death. Paternity leave and pay can remain available, subject to the usual eligibility conditions, after a stillbirth from 24 weeks or a live birth at any stage of pregnancy. Leave booked before the loss remains available. If you had not booked leave, GOV.UK says to book and take it within eight weeks of the death. Do not assume unused weeks stay available for the rest of the year; get advice before changing existing bookings. Parental bereavement leave and pay may be available separately.
Neonatal care. Eligible parents of babies born from 6 April 2025 may qualify if care starts within the first 28 days and lasts at least seven consecutive days. Leave is a day-one right, up to 12 weeks depending on the care period; pay has separate tests. Neonatal care leave adds to paternity leave.
Death of the mother or primary adopter. For deaths from 6 April 2026, eligible employees can receive up to 52 weeks’ unpaid bereaved partner’s paternity leave. It must fit within the first 52 weeks after birth, placement or overseas entry to Great Britain, not a fresh 52 weeks from the death. Its rules are separate from ordinary paternity leave.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland uses the same paternity leave and pay rules as England and Wales. The day-one reforms discussed here apply across Great Britain.
What your employer must do
Your employer must recognise valid leave, pay SPP where due and explain a pay refusal within 28 days using SPP1. During leave your contract continues apart from normal pay: holiday accrues, relevant pay rises apply and you retain the right to return to the same job. GOV.UK summarises these protections.
Dismissal because you take or plan to take paternity leave is automatically unfair, with no minimum service needed to claim. Detriment, such as denying training or promotion because of leave, is separately unlawful. Acas explains both protections.
Challenge a refusal or penalty in writing, keep your notices and seek advice promptly. A grievance does not stop tribunal time limits. Acas early conciliation is normally required before a GB claim; contact the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland. For statutory pay entitlement disputes, ask HMRC for a decision.
If you work in care or health, UNISON is one place to turn; retail workers can contact USDAW, and hospitality, logistics or delivery workers can contact Unite, GMB or the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain. Citizens Advice and law centres can help if you are not in a union. Report minimum-wage underpayment through HMRC’s minimum-wage complaint service; contact the GLAA about labour exploitation, the HSE about workplace safety, or the EHRC about discrimination. These routes address different problems.
Questions people ask
Can I take paternity leave in a new job?
Yes, if you are an eligible employee in Great Britain. Give notice promptly, especially if you joined after the usual deadline. Statutory pay has a separate service test.
How much is statutory paternity pay in 2026/27?
Up to £194.32 a week. You get 90% of average weekly earnings if that is lower, provided you meet all eligibility conditions. Tax and National Insurance apply where due.
Can I split my two weeks?
Yes in Great Britain, into two whole weeks with notice for each. Northern Ireland requires consecutive weeks and normally uses a 56-day birth-related window.
Can paternity leave follow shared parental leave?
Yes in Great Britain since 6 April 2026, within the paternity time window. Paternity pay can follow shared parental pay too. Northern Ireland’s leave rules differ.
Does separation from my partner stop me qualifying?
Not necessarily. Acas says a separated parent can qualify with ongoing responsibility for bringing up the child. The other conditions still apply.
Does agency work count?
Agency employees can qualify for leave. Other agency workers may qualify for statutory pay but must arrange time off. Genuinely self-employed parents have neither statutory entitlement.
Sources
- Paternity pay and leave: eligibility, GOV.UK
- Paternity pay and leave: how to claim, GOV.UK
- Paternity pay and leave: adoption and surrogacy, GOV.UK
- Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, HMRC
- Employment Rights Act 2025, section 16, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 2025, section 17, legislation.gov.uk
- Employment Rights Act 2025 (Commencement No. 1) Regulations 2026, legislation.gov.uk
- Parental and Paternity Leave (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026, legislation.gov.uk
- Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024, legislation.gov.uk
- Manually calculate Statutory Paternity Pay, HMRC; use the current rates page for uprated figures
- Paternity leave rights, Acas
- Bereaved partner’s paternity leave, Acas
- Employee rights when on leave, GOV.UK
- Paternity leave, nidirect
- Statutory Paternity Pay, nidirect
- Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order (Northern Ireland) 2026, SR 2026/59, article 10, legislation.gov.uk
- New rights for family bereavement and pregnancy loss, GOV.UK, 22 September 2026; planned April 2027 commencement
- National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates, GOV.UK
- Tribunal Statistics Quarterly: April to June 2026, Ministry of Justice, 10 September 2026