The draft Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 have been put before Parliament. Intended to come into force on 8 March 2024 and apply to births and adoptions which are expected after 6 April 2024, these regulations will: change how the right to statutory paternity leave is exercised; extend the period of time in which the leave has to be taken; and allow eligible fathers/partners to take the leave in two distinct blocks if they wish.
In brief, the Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 propose to make the following key changes to the existing legal framework:
Existing regime
New regime
Entitlement
Leave can only be taken in one consecutive block of one or two weeks. If only one week is taken, the second week is lost and cannot be taken later.
Leave can be taken as two, one-week-long, independent blocks. They do not have to be consecutive.
Flexibility
Leave must be taken within the first eight weeks after the birth/adoption placement.
Leave can be taken at any point within the first year after the birth/adoption.
Notice
Employers must be given notice at least 15 weeks before the baby’s due date of the intention date to start statutory paternity leave and the duration (or within 7 days of being matched with a child for adoption).
Eligible fathers/partners only need to give at least 4 weeks’ notice of their intention to take leave (although the notice period for domestic adoption cases remains within 7 days of being matched with a child for adoption).
Variation
The start date of the employee’s leave can be changed if the employer is given at least 28 days’ notice.
Any dates specified for leave to be taken can be varied if the employer is given at least 28 days’ notice of the variation.
It is proposed that these changes will apply to:
Eligible fathers/partners of babies whose expected week of birth begins after 6 April 2024;
Adopters with whom a child is expected to be placed on or after 6 April 2024; and
Adopters whose child is expected to enter Great Britain on or after 6 April 2024.
Sobia Ahmad comments: “The new Regulations will certainly shake-up the way statutory paternity leave is exercised by employees, giving them greater rights and flexibility in comparison to the existing regime. Employers need to ensure they are prepared for these upcoming changes, as well as other changes to family-friendly rights from 6 April 2024 (including: the right to request flexible working from “day one”; the extension of redundancy protection for those on maternity/adoption/shared parental leave; and the introduction of unpaid carer’s leave – see further details here).”
If you have any queries about the proposed changes or wish to prepare by reviewing your existing paternity leave policy, please contact a member of the team here.
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