Paternity Info required urgently

[TashaTait]

Is it true that paternity leave starts from the mothers due date? How can this be when only 5% of women give birth on their actual due date.

My husband has been told that his paternity leave starts the day I am due, what if I am two weeks late and then need to be induced? It's sooooo unfair.

My due date is 12th April 2004.

Hmmmm, that doesn't sound right, but I'm not an expert. Maybe it's just your dh's company trying to get away with controlling which days he is away from work. Can he ask his hr dept for a clarification and to see the legislation that refers to paternity leave?

Many thanks for your advice. I have just looked up on the Governments DTI website on paternity rights. It states that employees can change their mind about the date on which they want their leave to start providing they tell their employer at least 28 days in advance (unless this is not reasonably practicable).

That just sounds ludicrous to me. I can't believe I have come this far through my pregnancy to hit this brick wall. Anyway thanks for your comment, I will get him to talk to his HR department like you say.

TashaTait, it can start on the date you give birth but your dh would need to give the expected date of birth so his employers have some idea of whenabouts he may be off work. If the baby is born early or late, then your dh can start his paternity leave on the date the baby was actually born.

Alternatively, he can take the leave in two blocks of one week each or a single block of a fortnight provided he does so within the first eight weeks after the birth of the baby.

TashaTait, if my post isn't clear, please feel free to contact me via 'contact another talker' so that I can explain the rules over the phone - I'm not very good at written stuff

I can clear this up - I sat on the government/industry committe that decided how the paternity leave regulations work.

The answer is: his employer is wrong.

You can choose to nominate a particular date for paternity leave to start, or you can nominate the birth as the start.

If you choose the birth, then it really is that - the birth triggers the start of paternity leave.

NB - NOT LABOUR (we all know there are false starts!)

When you go into labour, your husband can leave work to be with you using "Emergency time off for dependents", which is unpaid, but guarantees the right of people to leave work when there is an emergency with someone who is dependent on them (the legislation explicitly includes labour). Paternity leave does not start until the baby is born.

He should tell them that paternity leave will start when the baby is born. Not on the due date, and not when the labour begins.

He should NOT tell them he is going on paternity lave when you go into labour - you never know, labour can stop and it could be a week before the baby is born, and you don't want him to have triggered paternity leave early.

If his employer disputes this, he should just say that they are welcome to try their case in an industrial tribunal, but the tribunal would throw their case out - the legislation is very specific on this point (we went to some lengths to ensure that the government didn't make these kinds of mistakes when designing paternity leave).

So...

• nominate the birth as the trigger
• take unpaid emergency time off when you go into labour
• when the baby is born, phone up work and tell them paternity leave has just started, and he's got two weeks off from that point on.

Hope this helps

Tom I'm glad you have posted that because it does make sense. I am lucky that my DH's employers are reasonably flexible although he has told them my due date to help planning. Also he plans his own diary really so will try and keep things quiet for the time following my due date. He will maybe (especially if I give birth early) have to cancel/postpone appts etc while on his paternity leave but will be able to do this from home without too much trouble. TashaTait hope you get something sorted out with your DH's employers.