Paternity leave allows an employee to spend time with a new child and support their partner.
How much paternity leave an employee can take
Someone taking paternity leave can choose to take 1 or 2 weeks.
This is the same even if an employee is having more than 1 child, for example twins.
It might be written in their contract that they get more than statutory paternity leave. This can be called 'enhanced' or 'contractual' paternity leave.
When an employee can start paternity leave
An employee can take their statutory paternity leave at any time in the first 52 weeks after the birth.
They cannot start statutory paternity leave before the birth. But they could agree with their employer to take another type of leave before paternity leave, for example holiday.
Who can take statutory paternity leave
Someone must have the legal status of employee to take paternity leave.
Anyone with the legal status of worker is not entitled to statutory paternity leave. They might be entitled to statutory paternity pay.
Agency workers
Someone who works through an agency might have the legal status of either an employee or a worker.
If they're not entitled to paternity leave, they might want time off after a birth or adoption. In this case the agency and employer should make an arrangement with them. This could be paid holiday, unpaid leave or special leave.
Eligibility for statutory paternity leave
The employee must have or expect to have responsibility for bringing up the child.
They must be one or both of the following:
- the child's father
- married to, the civil partner or partner of the mother or birth parent – this includes same-sex partners
From 6 April 2026, entitlement to paternity leave starts from the first day of employment. Previously, employees had to work for their employer for 26 weeks before they were eligible.
Eligibility is different for:
To check eligibility, you can use the paternity leave and pay checker tool on GOV.UK.
If someone is no longer with their partner
Someone who separated from their partner can still take this leave. They must have ongoing responsibility for bringing up the child.
How the law protects employees taking paternity leave
Anyone taking paternity leave is protected by law against:
- detriment
- unfair dismissal
The laws are the Equality Act 2010 and the Employment Rights Act 1996.
Protection from detriment
An employer must not cause an employee 'detriment' for taking, or planning to take, paternity leave.
Detriment means someone experiences one or both of the following:
- being treated worse than before
- having their situation made worse
Examples of detriment could be:
- they experience bullying
- they experience harassment
- the employer turns down their training requests without good reason
- they are overlooked for promotions or development opportunities
- their employer reduces their hours without good reason
If an employee believes they've experienced detriment because of paternity leave, they should talk with their employer.
If this is not possible or it does not resolve the problem, they can raise a grievance. This is where they make a formal complaint to their employer.
If the problem is still not resolved, they could make a claim to an employment tribunal.
Protection from unfair dismissal
Employees are protected against unfair dismissal related to paternity leave.
Planning to take or being on paternity leave is never a valid reason to dismiss someone. If an employee is dismissed because they are on paternity leave it is 'automatically unfair'.
An employee can make a claim for automatically unfair dismissal regardless of how long they've worked for their employer. If an employer dismisses an employee who is on paternity leave, they must give them the reasons in writing.
Find out more about unfair dismissal
Holiday and paternity leave
Employees still 'accrue' (build up) their usual holiday entitlement during statutory paternity leave.
Other types of leave
Parents might also be entitled to:
- shared parental leave
- ordinary parental leave
- neonatal care leave
- bereaved partner's paternity leave
Shared parental leave
Employees can decide to take shared parental leave. This gives more choice in how 2 parents can take leave when they're having a child.
Shared parental leave allows maternity or adoption leave to end early and the remaining leave be shared between the parents.
One parent can take shared parental leave instead of paternity leave or after they've taken paternity leave.
Find out more about shared parental leave
Ordinary parental leave
Parents have the right to unpaid time off work when they need to look after their children.
This is called 'ordinary parental leave' or unpaid parental leave.
An employee might want more time off than the statutory 2 weeks' paternity leave. They can take up to 4 weeks' unpaid parental leave starting on the day their:
- baby is born
- adoption placement starts
They can then take their statutory paternity leave afterwards. Employers cannot refuse employees taking parental leave in this way.
Find out more about ordinary parental leave
Neonatal care leave
Neonatal care leave allows parents to have additional time off to be with a baby who is receiving neonatal care.
The right to take neonatal care leave applies from the first day of work. Eligible parents can take neonatal care leave once their child has been in neonatal care for at least 7 consecutive days.
Parents who have a baby admitted to neonatal care up to the age of 28 days might be eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave. This includes fathers and partners of birth parents.
Find out more about neonatal care leave
Bereaved partner's paternity leave
Bereaved partner's paternity leave is for the partner of someone who's died. It gives eligible fathers and partners up to 52 weeks' unpaid leave if the mother or primary adopter dies. This also applies to intended parents having a baby through surrogacy.
An employee must take this leave within 52 weeks of either:
- their child's birth
- their child's adoption placement
- their child's entry to Great Britain for overseas adoptions
Find out more about bereaved partner's paternity leave
Contact the Acas helpline
If you have any questions about paternity leave, you can contact the Acas helpline.