Paternity Leave- How much influence can employers have over this?

[Nymphadora]

And can they ask you not to take it at a specific time (for example during an inspection?)?

(Only hypothetical at the moment)

Paternity leave - i.e. the two weeks?

No. There is no discretion.

Parental leave, yes, they can

do you think you can keep your legs crossed for those two weeks?

My dh had OFSTED the week after his paternity leave.

They can't stop you taking the 2 weeks.

but am sure it has to be requested at a certain stage of the pregnancy(iirc )from a friends dh who had problems as he requested too late or something

I will be having a section so dates should be fairly specific but he won't know inspection dates until a few days before

Yes, all the notification requirements are on DirectGov. If you don't follow them it can be turned down, so have a read. You don't have to give a specific date for the leave BTW. It can be 'starting from the day after the baby is born', etc. There are a few different options, but that's the most commonly chosen one. If you had the section early for any reason, choosing that would prevent problems.

Thanks.