Paternity rights

[kri5ty]

Does anyone know the current rights for paternity?

is it still 2 weeks?

I have heard that it is now 4 (although i can not find any confirmation of this, is it just an idea at this point?)

Also does anyone know if it is true that mothers can donate some of their maternity to dads? Or again was that just an idea that never got passed?

Thank you

[Tortoiseonthehalfshell]

Sorry, do you mean paternity leave?

Or what rights does a biological father have generally?

[kri5ty]

haha yes paternity leave... god i have not woken up yet... i'm glad you guessed what i ment lol

[melliebobs]

me and dh husband are really confused about the new law that came in regards passing over some of my maternity leave to him. It's along the lines of the father of the child can take extra paternity pay as long as it's 20 weeks after the birth but before the childs 1st birthday.

[BuffyFan]

Mums can donate part of their "maternity" to Dads, but not until baby is 20 weeks old. Have a look here: www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_196740

We're hoping to do this :)

As far as I know this is separate to the two weeks "paternity" leave when baby is born.

[nannyl]

I think Dads get 2 week paternity leave. (I dont think this is on full pay, i think its just maternity allowance rate of £128 per week, but i might be wrong)

If a Mum chooses to not use all the maternity leave to which she is entitled, perhaps she goes back to work after 3 or 4 months or whatever, then, as i understand it, Daddy can use the remainder to be paid maternity allowance rate of £128 per week, instead of mummy.

Also If Mummy is having 6 months maternity leave, daddy could then have the unclaimed 3 months and he can have it at the same time as mum if it suits. (and go on family holidays or just enjoy time together or whatever you like)

[nunnie]

//www.direct.gov.uk/en/parents/moneyandworkentitlements/parentalleaveandpay/dg_10029398

Still 2 weeks I believe.

[kri5ty]

thats crap, i wanted to donate 4 of my weeks so he could be off with me at first to help!!!

Thank for clearing it up though girlies

[nunnie]

//www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Moneyandworkentitlements/WorkAndFamilies/Paternityrightsintheworkplace/DG_190788

And there is this additional 26 weeks, but I don't know anything about this but here is the link.

[silverangel]

Its two weeks, and depending on who you work for whether it is at statutory or full pay. You can each take up to six months off but the mother has to go back to work, they wont pay statutory to both parents...

You / partner can choose when to take the two weeks ie doesn't have to be as soon as baby is born.

[babyonbord]

The two weeks is just paid at 128 a week which is not so great when your used to getting 400+ a week luckily july (when i'm due) is a 5 week month and my dh gets paid weekly so we won't have to cut back for those 2 weeks yay. I can't imagine how women who are on a high wage survive on maternity pay for 9 months i guess we are lucky that i only work part time for shits and giggles so maternity pay isn't really any less than i earn normally. I didn't know you could share you maternity with your dh though, it wouldn't work for us but it's a good idea if the mum is the high earner.

[H007]

My OH gets two weeks full pay, and then if I wanted to return to work he'd be able to take the rest of my untaken maternity leave however this would only be at the SMP level.

[TransatlanticCityGirl]

The father is entitled to 2 weeks at statutory rate (£128 or 90% of salary, whichever is lower), however many companies will uplift this.

He can also take the mother's unused maternity leave after 6 months, but she must be back at work and cannot overlap. This is also at statutory rate up to week 39 and few companies tend to uplift this. He can also take further unpaid leave after that.

This only applies if mother is entitled to maternity leave to begin with.

babyonboard many women who earn high salaries also get their pay uplifted by their companies - e.g. I get 6 months full pay, followed by 3 months statutory. This is how they survive!! SMP is terrible especially if you live in London.

[kri5ty]

yes i am one of the lucky ones, i get 6 months full pay, 3 months half pay, then 3 months unpaid.

OH works at the same company so he will get full pay for 2 weeks.. i just didnt realise that when i can "donate" it had to be after i returned... thought i might have been able to do it whilst i was off... would have been helpful for him to be around more than 2 weeks in the beginning!

[babyonbord]

I wonder if my my dhs firm will pay him full pay for those 2 weeks they might do they tend to be quite generous that would be good if they did. Yeah smp isn't great is it when you think about living costs, if our situation was reversed we would be completly screwed, theres no way we would be able to survive on it, it wouldn't even cover our mortage and now they've cut tax credits we no longer qualify for them so will get no help towards childcare, if i had to pay for nursery there would be no point in me working at all as it would cost more than i'd actually earn for the day thankgod for grandparents.