The Right to Additional Paternity Leave

Rosanne Capper looks at the changes to paternity leave, which came into force on 3 April 2011.

Where a mother returns to work without taking all of her maternity leave, the father (or partner of the mother) will be entitled to a minimum of two weeks additional leave and a maximum of 26 weeks additional leave, which must be taken in one continuous block of leave. This leave can be taken any time from 20 weeks after the child is born and must have finished by the child's first birthday.

For an employee to qualify for additional paternity leave they must:

• Be the father of the baby and/or the husband or partner (including a same-sex partner or civil partner) of a woman who is due to give birth on or after 3 April 2011;