Paternity Leave

[PDR]

My DH started a new job on 1st June when I was already a couple of weeks pregnant.

I understand that he is not entitled to statutory paternity pay but is he allowed to take the 2 weeks leave as unpaid?

I have heard about something called "Parental Leave" as well - is this a better option? Can he specify the date or is it up to his employer? I'm not due until Feb 2011 so they will have plenty of time to sort out cover.

He will not have any annual leave left as we are going on a long holiday in October. Also, AL is allocated to each employee in advance at his new company so will prob not coincide with my due date!

He isn't entitled to paternity leave, as he presumably won't have been there 26 weeks by 15 weeks before your due date, so whether his employer wants to allow him to take some unpaid leave instead is up to them really.

He won't be entitled to parental leave either as he has to have been there a year. That might have been an option however the employer can postpone that if it's not convenient.

His best bet is just to ask for some unpaid leave, or a combination of unpaid leave and holiday.

Thank you flowery that's all I need to know.

We have plenty of time so hopefully he can negotiate 1 week's unpaid leave under the circumstances. It's a big company so they have probably dealt with this before.