Paternity, Parental/Shared Parental Leave advice – individuals

Fathers and partners of a child’s mother are entitled to both paternity leave and unpaid parental leave if they meet certain eligibility criteria. Our team of specialist employment Solicitors in Ipswich, Hadleigh, Felixstowe, and Woodbridge in Suffolk can advise you on your rights and help you if things go wrong.

Paternity Leave

You will be eligible to take two weeks’ paid paternity leave if you:

• have 26 weeks continuous employment (ending with the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth); and
• are the biological father or married to or the partner (including civil partner) of the child’s mother; and
• have or expect to have responsibility for the upbringing of the child

Employees on paternity leave are entitled to statutory paternity pay which is paid at the lower rate of statutory maternity pay.  You can only take this leave to care for the child or to support your partner.  You ordinarily have to have taken all two weeks leave in the 56 day period after the birth.

Your rights both during and after paternity leave are the same as for ordinary maternity leave.

Parental Leave

If you have one year’s service and have responsibility for a child, you may also be eligible for up to 13 weeks’ unpaid parental leave, for each child.  This has to be taken before your child’s fifth birthday.

If your child is disabled, you may be eligible to take up to 18 weeks’ unpaid parental leave, which must be taken before each child’s eighteenth birthday.

Leave is to be taken for the purpose of caring for a child and can only be taken in blocks of at least one week.

Additionally if you are the father of a child that is born on or after 3 April 2011, or the husband or civil partner of a child’s adopter, then you will be able to elect to take up to 26 weeks of the mother’s maternity or adoption leave entitlement.

How we can help

If you have any concerns relating to family friendly rights, we would be happy to help you.  If you are treated less favourably as a consequence of having requested or having taken leave which you are entitled to, take early advice from our team of specialist employment solicitors in Ipswich, Suffolk. We can tell you how to approach the situation, what options are open to you, and how to achieve the best outcome for you.

Our charges

As with everything we do, our charges are very reasonable and tailored to the work that you would like us to do.  In the vast majority of cases, we will agree a fixed fee for your work, so that you have comfort in knowing that you can safely budget, with no fear of receiving an unexpected bill from us.

What to do next

Contact our team of employment solicitors in Ipswich, Suffolk by telephoning 01473 298126 or by email.