Calculate Additional Paternity Pay by:

• using your payroll software, if it has this feature
• working it out manually

Entitlement

Eligible employees are entitled to:

• Additional Paternity Leave – 2 to 26 weeks
• Additional Paternity Pay (APP) – £138.18 per week or 90% of their gross average weekly earnings (whichever is lower)

You can offer more if you have a company paternity scheme. An employee’s employment rights (like the right to pay, holidays and returning to a job) are protected during Additional Paternity Leave. You still have to pay APP even if you stop trading.

Start and end dates

Leave and or pay can only start 20 weeks after the birth, adoption or child’s arrival in the UK (overseas adoptions). Leave stops on the child’s first birthday or 52 weeks after the child starts living with the adopter. Pay stops when the mother’s maternity or adoption pay would have ended.

Employees can change these dates if they give you 6 weeks’ notice.

Special situations

Some employment types like agency workers, directors and educational workers have different rules for entitlement.

There are special rules for some employee situations eg if they leave, become sick or if they or their child dies.

Unpaid Additional Paternity Leave

Your employee can take unpaid Additional Paternity Leave if they’re eligible for leave but not pay. All Additional Paternity Leave taken after the end of the Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance or Statutory Adoption Pay period is unpaid.

Eligibility

Employees are eligible if:

• they’ve worked for you continuously for at least 26 weeks by the qualifying week or matching week (or the official notification for overseas adoptions)
• they’re employed by you the week (Saturday to Sunday) before their leave and or pay starts
• they are on your payroll and earn at least £111 a week (gross) in an 8 week period
• their partner has at least 2 weeks left of their maternity or adoption pay (APP only)
• their partner signs one of the forms below confirming their maternity or adoption leave or pay is ending
• they give you the correct notice using the forms below

Notice period

Employees should give you 8 weeks’ notice using the forms below (or your own versions). Within 28 days of their request, write confirming what APP they’ll get and their leave start and end dates.

You must keep records of the form.

If an employee doesn’t give you the right amount of notice without a good reason, you can delay the start of leave and the pay period until you’ve had acceptable notice.

Proof you can ask for

You can ask for:

• proof of the birth or adoption – eg a birth certificate or letter from the adoption agency
• the contact details of their partner’s employer – eg to check when their partner’s maternity pay ends

They should give this to you within 28 days or they won’t qualify for leave or pay. You must keep records of the proof.

Refusing leave or pay

If an employee doesn’t qualify, write to them within 28 days of their request and include form ASPP1.

Record keeping

You must keep records for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), including:

• proof of the birth or adoption, or the contact details of their partner’s employer
• the appropriate application form (SC7, SC8, SC9 or SC10)
• details of any changes to your original application
• your APP payments (including dates)
• the payments you’ve reclaimed
• any weeks you didn’t pay and why

You must keep records for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to.

Help with statutory payments

For financial help with statutory pay, you can:

• reclaim payments (usually 92%)
• apply for an advance if you can’t afford payments