The DTI has published its response to its earlier consultation on the proposal to extend paternity leave for eligible fathers. The response sets out what we can expect to see in the regulations when they are published. The new right to additional paternity leave (APL) will come into force at the same time as the extension of SMP to 52 weeks (probably not before April 2008).
Eligibility
The employee must be father of the child or the spouse, civil partner or partner of the mother of the child, and be responsible for the upbringing of the child. All staff who are eligible for ordinary paternity leave (OPL) will be entitled to APL (i.e. the employee must have worked for you for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of birth).
Entitlement
An employee will only be able to take APL - which must be taken in one block - where the mother or adopter returns to work before the end of additional maternity leave (AML) or additional adoption leave (AAL). The earliest date when APL can start will be 20 weeks from the date of the birth or adoption. It will terminate on the date when the mother’s AML or AAL would have ended. Gaps between the end of AML/AAL and the start of APL will be allowed.
Statutory Additional Paternity Pay (SAPP)
A father will be entitled to SAPP provided the mother has not exhausted her entitlement to SMP and only for so long as the mother’s SMP would have lasted had she remained on maternity leave. SAPP will be calculated in exactly the same way as SMP.
Rights during and after APL
A father on APL will be entitled to work 10 keeping in touch days in the same way as a mother on AML. Fathers who take APL will be entitled to the same terms and conditions as a woman on OML and the same right to return as a woman returning from OML.
Administration
The DTI hasn’t yet decided on how APL will be administered but aims to keep it ‘light touch’.