Government announces plans to allow paternity leave to be taken up to a year after the birth of a child

Written statement to parliament also confirms proposal to allow fathers or partners to split their leave into two blocks of one week

The government has announced that it plans to amend legislation to allow paternity leave to be taken up to a year after the birth of a child.

Having set out its commitment to implement recommendations from the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices, including in relation to improving parental leave and pay, back in 2018 the government launched a consultation on its proposals in July 2019.

On the publication of its response to the consultation last week, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kevin Hollinrake said in a written statement to the House of Commons that the government's plans for amendments to the legislation – to take effect in April 2024 subject to parliamentary scheduling – will –

'Give employed fathers and partners more choice and flexibility around how and when they take their paternity leave, allowing them to take two separate blocks of one week of leave if they wish;

Give employed fathers and partners the ability to take their leave at any time in the first year, rather than just in the first eight weeks after birth or placement for adoption; and

Change the notice requirements for paternity leave to make these more proportionate to the amount of time the father/parent plans to take off work. We will cut the amount of notice of dates from 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth to 28 days before the leave will be taken. This will give parents more flexibility in planning to take the leave that they need.'

In addition, Mr Hollinrake advised that the government has published the shared parental leave and pay (SPL) evaluation – that assessed the extent to which the implementation and take-up of SPL has achieved its original objectives – adding that the evaluation –

'… showed positive results for both parents and business, boasting greater work-life balance for parents, and improving retention and recruitment for employers. The uptake of SPL was also in line with projections made at its roll-out and has doubled between 2015/2016 and 2021/2022.'

However, responding to the government's plans, the TUC tweeted today –

'The government has announced changes to paternity leave. They essentially amount to allowing dads/partners to take their paternity leave in the year after the birth of their child. NO increase to statutory paternity pay. NO day one paternity and pay rights for all workers … This is tinkering around the edges and will not tackle the root cause of why paternity leave isn’t working for new families.'

Meanwhile, Pregnant Then Screwed has also highlighted –

'We have been waiting for the government's evaluation of shared parental leave for six years. Finally it has landed. Unfortunately with no admittance that it really hasn't worked, and with a suggested amendment that paternity leave could be taken in two times one week blocks, rather than one times two week block. It definitely wasn't worth the wait.'

The written statement on shared parental leave is available from parliament.uk