daddy's home - but NOT on paternity leave

[motherinferior]

My dp is currently on paternity leave. Or he would be, if his work hadn't informed him that if he's on paternity leave he only gets statutory paternity pay of £100/week. So he's taken annual leave instead.

I am, obviously, deeply pissed off about this (particularly as he has Caring Sharing Employer). I have written a bit on the issue in the past but quite frankly don't have the energy to go rooting around in my notes and websites at the moment, what with having 8-day-old baby who is the reason he's on paternity leave in the first place. I assumed that he'd get the two weeks on full pay, as he would have done in numerous places where I've worked in the past.

Do I take it from this that SPL is a bit of a rip-off? Any advice?

Just had a quick look and it does indeed look as if he's only entitled to the shite rate of £100 - there's a not too long summary from the dti here

yup, it is almost as crap as statutory maternity leave which is also £100 per week (after the first six weeks).
in my prev job fathers got compassionate leave of a week on full pay after baby. often stretched to two if there were special circs - ill baby, premature, nasty time for mother etc - again, fully paid. Now they get two weeks at £100pw - compassion out the window.

That's progress

My DH's is 2 days paid and if he wants more then its the £100 deal or annual leave.

All the research shows that dads should be involved more if you don't want a delinquent society and research also shows that the first few weeks are really important for dads to bond with the baby.

Makes my blood boil.

It's the employer I'm really pissed off with. He doesn't get paid magnificently, but one justification is 'the benefits are good'. Well, this one isn't. (And I've ranted before about how his work also assumes he's free to drop everything because I'll pick up the childcare slack.)

If I were him, I'd take the paternity leave at the reduced rate followed by 2 weeks annual leave

yes my dh had to take annual leave when our 2 were born, cr*p isnt it?

My dh is lucky in that he runs his own show with nobody to supervise, but he spent so much time with me in hospital that he had to go back to work immediately - I came home Friday, he went back Monday. However, he did go in late and come home early, which was fantastic. Paternity leave & maternity leave. Both utter rubbish IMO. £100 a week - yeah that will cover the nappies, who pays the mortgage?