Paternity Leave and Unpaid Paternity Leave

From 6 April 2026, employees will be eligible to give notice to take Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave from their first day of employment. This change supports working parents and can help businesses attract and retain talent.

Key changes:

• Employees can give notice of Paternity Leave from day one of employment
• Employees can give notice of Unpaid Parental Leave from day one of employment
• Fathers and partners can now take Paternity Leave and Pay after Shared Parental Leave and Pay (previously this was not allowed)
• Continuity of service requirements for Paternity Pay remain unchanged

Transitional arrangements for Paternity Leave

For newly eligible birth parents with a baby due before 26 July 2026, the notice period is temporarily reduced to 28 days. Standard notice requirements (informing their employer of their intent to take Paternity Leave 15 weeks before the Expected Week of Childbirth, and 28 days before they want the leave to start) apply for those whose child is due on or after 26 July 2026. Standard notice requirements for adopters and birth parents who qualified before 6 April remain unchanged.

How to prepare

Before 6 April 2026:

• Review your Paternity Leave and Parental Leave policies to reflect day-one eligibility
• Update your employee handbook and any template documents
• Brief line managers on the new entitlements
• Ensure your HR systems can process leave requests from new starters
• Communicate the changes to your workforce

More information

Paternity Leave - https://www.gov.uk/paternity-pay-leaveopens www.gov.uk in a new tab

Unpaid Parental Leave - https://www.gov.uk/parental-leaveopens www.gov.uk in a new tab

For more information see the Paternity and Unpaid Parental Leave factsheetopens assets.publishing.service.gov.uk in a new tab