The Government has published the draft Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 that will introduce changes to statutory paternity leave including:
- Employees can choose between taking two non-consecutive weeks of paternity leave OR a single period of one or two weeks.
- Employees will be able to take leave at any time during the first year (previously it was 56 days) following the birth and will need to give 28 days’ notice of their intention to take paternity leave.
- Notice of entitlement to take paternity leave must be given to the employer by the 15th week before the expected week of birth, however it also can be changed giving 28 days’ notice to the employer.
The Regulations come into force on 8 March 2024 and apply where the Expected Week of Childbirth is 6 April 2024 onwards.
We will be providing schools and academies an update in due course to our template policy.