The draft Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 have been laid before Parliament and are proposed to come into force on 8 March 2024.
They will make changes to the way in which the statutory entitlement to paternity leave is exercised, including the requirements relating to notice and evidence, the period within which paternity leave must be taken, and the requirement that paternity leave be taken in one continuous period.
The draft regulations will:
- Allow fathers and partners to take their leave as two one-week, non-consecutive blocks (currently if one week is taken, the other week can't be taken on a separate occasion),
- Allow fathers and partners to take their leave at any point in the first year after the birth or adoption of their child (currently it has to be taken within the first eight weeks after birth or adoption).
- Shorten the notice period required for each period of leave to four weeks.
- Allow fathers and partners who have given an initial notice to vary any dates given if they give 28 days' notice of the variation. This will enable them to change planned dates at a later stage to suit the needs of their families.
The Regulations will apply to babies whose expected week of birth begins after 6 April 2024, and to children whose expected date of placement for adoption, or expected date of entry into Great Britain for adoption, is on or after 6 April 2024.
