Just realised DH won't be eligible for paternity leave

[ShadowStorm]

DH is due to start a new job a few weeks before DC2 is due.

I've just realised that this means he won't be eligible for paternity leave. Dammit. No idea yet if some unpaid leave might be possible, I guess it'll depend on how generous his new employers feel about it.

Given that the alternative to DH's new job would be him having no job at all when the baby arrives, it's unreasonable for me to be feeling put out by this - but still

which is why dh didnt use his paternity leave/pay as I was only getting maternity pay too so we wouldnt have covered the mortgage (no we didnt save up beforehand)

And not everyone on maternity leave gets SMP, I will be getting Maternity Allowance and it'll be around £90 a week.

Yes sorry I realise everyones circunstances are different. I just dont understand why stat pay is ok for the woman but too low for the man i suppose - as a general rule.

it was more the fact we would both be on the statutory pay which made our combined pay for that month much lower than usual.

But a lot of women don't go straight to statutory though do they? Many woman have at least 6wks full pay then sliding scale. Paternity is 2wks at a pittance so not worth it for many men esp if the wife is taking at leave.

My employer only gives statutory maternity pay (6 weeks at 90% salary, next 33 weeks at current SMP rate) - most women I know don't get an enhanced package. I believe SMP rate is the same as paternity pay?

But anyway, DH is talking to the new employer to see if he can get a few days of unpaid leave + a few days holiday - he won't have enough pro-rataed holiday to take 2 weeks off in this holiday year. We'll have to wait and see what they say.

ilove

The E19 HMRC guidence on paternity leave (page 19) link here states that to qualify for leave, an employee must be employed from the qualifying week up until the babies birth. The quote you have given relates to pay, not leave.

I would not trust the gov.uk website. I work in payroll. It's the most awful website I have come across. Direct.gov was a much better and more useful site.

Do keep your fingers crossed for his employer. Lots of places will give two weeks unpaid even if you don't qualify for SPP.

ForTheLoveOfSocks - DH's new job starts about 3 weeks before the due date.

Regardless of whether an employee needs to be employed from the qualifying week or from 26 weeks before the qualifying week, DH is not eligible under either criteria.

I fully agree about the gov.uk website though. They seem to have really dumbed down the direct.gov website, removed loads of useful info and then not given any links where you can get more detailed infoif you actually want it.

Gov.uk is utterly utterly crap. Half the time you search for a really common key word and it brings back nothing at all. At otber times it brings back links which you follow only to finallh be told "this page has moved". Yes I know I thoight it moved to gov.uk! It is the bane of my life.

Dp isn't entitled to paternity leave either as he has a new job too so is taking it out of his holidays.

I am almost the opposite. I am just starting a new job from next Friday when I will be 5 weeks pregnant. I have been working on a bank basis for the company for 8 months so I am hoping that that will be taken into consideration and allow maternity pay but if not then I just have to hope that when the doctor finally gives me due date it will fall just over that bracket! bY my workings out I think it should by a week but if not its tough for me.

As far as DH is concerned he is entitled to it but not sure how it works at his job yet. I know his brother took annual leave with both his children as the paternity pay didn't cover enough.

Hope it all works out for you. All he can do is ask how the land lies. I am sure they will be understanding.

mummywarren1, even if you dont qualify for SMP you may qualify for maternity allowance so could claim that instead

ForTheLoveOfSocks, that link you gave says this:

The length of time your employee must have worked for you to get OSPP
and ordinary paternity leave is split into two and both conditions must
be met.

Birth
Tables showing the week baby due date, the latest start date for employment with you and the Qualifying Week are on pages 90 and 91.

Step 1
The employee must be continuously employed from the latest start date for employment with you. If they started work after that date they do not qualify. You must give your employee form OSPP1 Non-payment of Ordinary Statutory Paternity Pay (OSPP), take a copy of the declaration on form SC3 Becoming a parent, and give the original back to them.

Step 2
The employee must continue to work for you in every week from the
Qualifying Week right up until the baby is born. If they stop working for
you before the baby is born they are not entitled to OSPP or ordinary
paternity leave

(If you check out the table on Page 90/91 then the date given for the latest start date is roughly 26 weeks from the end of the qualifying week which is what the gov.uk website says. I read it as you need to be employed by the latest start date in the table and then stay employed up until the baby is born or you get neither paternity leave or pay. Other sites I have checked say the same too)

As a rule of thumb, 26 weeks by the end of the qualifying week means you must have been working somewhere before LMP before pregnancy - ie, at least 2 weeks before conception.

So if you start somewhere and you're already pregnant or you partner is, you won't be entitled to SMP/SPP.