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Original poster

Paternity Leave

9 replies

NatalieJane · 14/05/2006 10:24

I think this is the right topic...

DH has looked into paternity leave for when the baby is here and has seen that he would only be able to claim £108 a week, we couldn't afford to loose that much money, so he has had to set aside two weeks of his annual holiday leave for when the time comes.

What we are looking at is if he can still claim his paternity leave, even though he will officially be on holiday? Does anyone know if this can be done?

TIA

OP posts:

pacinofan · 14/05/2006 13:12

Check with your dh's HR dept. We were in this position only a few weeks ago. My dh's company states he can take paternity leave, by arrangement, anytime up until baby is 6 months old. We opted to take 1 weeks paternity leave (paid), 1 weeks paternity leave (unpaid at £108/week) followed by two weeks annual leave. We knew we would take a hit financially so we saved and put the money aside. The only problem we had really was having to book the paternity leave when I was only 20 weeks pregnant. We guessed dd2 would be early, and she was, thankfully we had guessed lucky and the leave started a few days after she was born.

Best of luck for your forthcoming new arrival!

Original poster

NatalieJane · 14/05/2006 13:20

Thanks :)

DH's company don't really have a HR department. He asked his 'wages woman' and she said he was entitled to the two weeks at £108, but that she didn't know anything else about it, and he would have to find out if there is anything else he is entitled to or whatever.

I can't see why he can't have the two weeks paternity leave, but also book two weeks annual leave at the same time - surely it is up to him when he takes his annual leave? But DH says he can't have two weeks off, with two different pay packets coming in, for two different reasons.

OP posts:

Original poster

NatalieJane · 14/05/2006 13:23

Sorry, but what do you mean by a week paternity leave paid, do you mean on full pay what he would get if he was doing a normal weeks work?

Sorry I am finding it all a bit confusing!! It doesn't help that his work have basically left it up to him to sort it all out - which really means it is left up to me to sort it out!!! :o

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pacinofan · 14/05/2006 14:36

I imagine paternity leave 'packages' vary from company to company. My dh was permitted 1 week at full pay and the second at the level you mention, £108. I know of other parents getting more generous deals though.

Sorry to hear you're not getting much help through work. Are they not obliged to inform you of your paternity leave rights? Is there anyone else who could help, i,e your dh's line manager for example? Good luck.

julienetmum · 14/05/2006 20:59

As paternity leave is paid by the government your dh is not allowed to be on holiday and claim SPP the same as a woman can not claim holiday pay during the same time as SMP.

An employer can if they wish top up that pay to a level equivalent to holiday pay or what some companies do (and I am not sure how legal this is is to put down on the SPP forms that an employer has taken paternity leave on x date then pay holiday pay the following week (when the emplyee has gone back to work) as though they are taking it in lieu.

This only works if your dh gets more than the ststutory minimum yearly holiday entitlement per year as you have to take a certain amount of time off.

SuperSaint · 14/05/2006 21:03

I think the law says that any new father is entitled to 2 weeks paternity leave which can be taken anytime in the 4 weeks after the baby is born. You don't have to book it in advance (as you can't know exactly when the baby will arrive) and a company is not allowed to refuse permission for you to have it.

However, the downside is that they only have to pay you the same rate as SMP (currently £108pw). If your DP can't afford to have 2 weeks off at a reduced rate of pay then he'll have to take annual leave and not actually claim paternity leave. I don't think he could get paid full pay for being on annual leave plus get £108pw for paternity leave.

Alot of companies will do enhanced paternity leave as a staff benefit - my DH can have 2 weeks at full pay as can any men who work at my company. Unfortunately it sounds like your DP's company don't do this and you'll need to just decide how much time you can afford him to have off work at £108pw and take that as paternity leave and the rest as annual leave.

HTH.

wendy33 · 14/05/2006 21:30

Is there any other benefits you can claim if you are on maternity leave?

I currently get Tax credits. Will I be paid more if I let them know?

wendy33 · 14/05/2006 21:31

Hi again! That was ment to start a new conversation! Sorry for intruding!

Original poster

NatalieJane · 15/05/2006 09:07

Thanks everyone :)

DH's company are a bit behind the times, they haven't had any new fathers since the paternity regs were brought in, so they don't really know how to handle it. I think DH is going to try to get them to do one week at full pay and one week at £108 or use his annual leave if he has to. Even that will be a big drop for us because most of DH's pay is made up from overtime which obviously he won't get paid for if he hasn't done it!

Anyway thanks again :)

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