Paternity Leave Factsheet

Paternity leave may be available to an employee whose partner is having a baby or adopting a child.

The right to paternity leave applies equally to same sex couples and thus it may be exercised by both men and women, subject to employees satisfying eligibility criteria. 

Eligibility

To be eligible for paternity leave the employee must:

• Have worked for a period of not less than 26 weeks ending with the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth (EWC) or, in the case of adoption, ending with the week the adoption agency gave notification of the match.
• Have or expect to have responsibility for the child’s upbringing.
• Be the biological father of the child or be married to, or the partner of, the child’s mother or adopter. This includes same sex couples.