The law around paternity and parental leave has changed significantly. The reforms that were in progress through 2024 and early 2025 are now in force — and if you have not reviewed your policies, contracts, and manager guidance since before April 2026, there is a real chance your documentation is wrong and your managers are giving incorrect advice. This article sets out the current legal position and what employers need to have in place now.
What has changed
Three significant changes have come into force that every employer needs to understand. First, paternity leave is now a day-one right — the previous 26-week qualifying period has been removed. Second, unpaid parental leave is also now a day-one entitlement — the 12-month qualifying period is gone. Third, the restriction preventing employees from taking paternity leave after shared parental leave has been removed.
These changes sit alongside earlier reforms to the mechanics of paternity leave itself — specifically the ability to split leave into two separate blocks — which have been in place since 2024. Taken together, the current framework is considerably more flexible than it was two years ago, and considerably more complex to manage.
If your contracts or handbooks still reference qualifying periods for paternity or parental leave, they are inaccurate. An employee who relies on incorrect policy wording and is told they are not eligible when they are creates immediate legal exposure.
Paternity leave — the current position
From 6 April 2026, eligible employees can take up to two weeks of statutory paternity leave from their first day of employment. There is no qualifying service period. Provided the employee meets the other eligibility criteria — they are the biological father, the partner of the mother, or in a qualifying relationship with the primary adopter — they are entitled to paternity leave regardless of how long they have been employed.
Statutory Paternity Pay is paid at the lower of £184.03 per week or 90% of average weekly earnings. For employees with short service, the average weekly earnings calculation is based on whatever earnings history is available — payroll systems need to handle this correctly rather than defaulting to the flat rate for all employees.
Flexible timing — how it works in practice
Paternity leave does not have to be taken as a single block immediately after birth or adoption. Employees can split their entitlement into two separate one-week periods and take them at different points within the first 52 weeks. Both periods must be completed within that 52-week window.
- Leave can be taken as one two-week block, two separate one-week blocks, or a single week.
- Both periods must be completed within 52 weeks of birth or adoption placement.
- Employees can change the timing of the second block with 28 days' notice.
- Statutory Paternity Pay applies to whichever weeks leave is taken.
The operational implications are real. An employee can take one week immediately after birth and notify you weeks later that they intend to take a second week at an inconvenient time. Paternity leave is a statutory right — you cannot refuse it. The 28-day notice for the second block gives you some lead time to plan, but that is all.
Shared parental leave
Shared Parental Leave allows eligible parents to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of Shared Parental Pay in the year following birth or adoption. Uptake remains relatively low, but that does not mean employers can afford to be unprepared — and the removal of the restriction on taking paternity leave after SPL gives families new flexibility in how they sequence their leave.
The notice process for SPL involves multiple steps: a curtailment notice from the primary carer, a notice of entitlement from the secondary carer, and up to three separate period of leave notices. Each has its own timeframe. Employers have 14 days to respond to a period of leave notice and can only refuse a discontinuous leave request. The procedural complexity means that SPL process documentation needs to be clear, current, and accessible to HR and managers.
Carer's leave
The Carer's Leave Act 2023 introduced a statutory right to up to one week of unpaid carer's leave per year, available from April 2024. It applies to employees who have a dependant with a long-term care need. It requires only three days' notice (or the period of leave requested, if shorter) and cannot be refused — only postponed by up to a month in limited circumstances.
Carer's leave is distinct from paternity and parental leave but sits within the same family of entitlements. Many employers still do not have a standalone carer's leave policy. If yours is one of them, that gap needs addressing.
Notice obligations by leave type
- Paternity leave: Notice by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth, or as soon as reasonably practicable. No qualifying period.
- Flexible paternity leave (second block): 28 days' notice before the start of the second period.
- Unpaid parental leave: 21 days' notice. No qualifying period from April 2026.
- SPL initial notice: Eight weeks before the first period of SPL is to begin.
- Carer's leave: Three days' notice or the length of the period requested, whichever is shorter.
Practical point: Your HR policies and manager guidance should map each leave type to its specific notice requirements. A single generic parental leave policy that conflates these different entitlements will create confusion and — more seriously — may lead to managers refusing legitimate requests.