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Additional Paternity Leave for fathers of children born or matched for adoption on or after 3 April 2011



Introduction

The Additional Paternity Leave Regulations 2010 gave fathers, partners or civil partners the right to take up to 26 weeks Additional Paternity Leave (APL) in addition to their existing two week entitlement. 

This right only applies to fathers/ partners or civil partners of children born or matched for adoption on or after 3 April 2011. 

An employee can take Paternity Leave (2 weeks directly after the birth or adoption) in addition to Additional Paternity Leave provided that they meet the qualifying conditions. 

Who is eligible for Additional Paternity Leave (APL)? 

Employees may qualify for APL if either one of the following applies:

  • You are the father of a child due on or after 3 April 2011.
  • Your wife, partner or civil partner (including same sex partners) is pregnant and due to give birth to a child on or after 3 April 2011.
  • You and your partner receive notification that you are matched with a child for adoption on or after 3 April 2011.
  • Your spouse, civil partner or partner (including same-sex relationships) is adopting a child from overseas and the child enters Great Britain on or after 3 April 2011.

In addition to qualify for APL you must met all the following condition –

  • You have been continuously employed with the University for at least 26 weeks by the 15th week before the baby is due (or, if your baby is born early, you would have been continuously employed until the 15th week).
  • You are still employed by the University until the week before your first week of APL.
  • Your partner has returned to work from Statutory Maternity or Adoption Leave when APL commences.
  • You have or expect to have responsibility for the child’s upbringing.

You can only take APL if both the following are satisfied:

  • The child's mother, adopter or co-adopter must also be entitled to Statutory Maternity or Adoption Leave from their employer.
  • They have returned to work and the relevant pay has stopped.

You are only entitled to APL once the primary carer physically returns to work.  If the child’s mother, co-adopter, adopter or your partner takes annual leave, parental leave, sick leave or a career break, directly following maternity or adoption leave then they will not be treated as returning to work until they physically go back into work on the day after the end of their leave, irrespective of type.

If you are eligible for APL this period covers single and multiple births. Therefore if twins are involved you are still only entitled to one period of APL.

How much APL can I take?

Employees who meet the conditions above are entitled to take up to 26 weeks leave to care for the child.  The leave must be taken in completed weeks, with 2 weeks being the minimum leave taken.

When can I start APL?

You can start APL from 20 weeks after the child’s birth or after the child has been placed for adoption however, you cannot start APL until your partner or co-adopter has returned to work from their Maternity or Adoption leave.   APL must finish by the end of the 52nd week after the birth of the child or after the child was placed in adoption. 

A break between the end of the Maternity or Adoption leave and commencement of the APL is permitted.  It should be noted, however, that the APL will not be extended beyond the 52nd week after birth of the child or one year after the child was placed in adoption.

How much Additional Paternity Pay am I entitled to?

Additional Paternity Pay (APP) is payable for a maximum of 19 weeks and is paid at the same rate as Statutory Maternity Pay.

To qualify for APP, the child’s mother, co-adopter, adopter or your partner must stopped claiming their Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance, Statutory Adoption Pay with at least two weeks of unexpired Statutory pay.

APP will only be paid up until 39 weeks after the child is born or placed into adoption.

Example 1; if the primary carer physically returns to work after 20 weeks maternity leave, they would have 19 weeks Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance remaining.  Therefore the father/partner could take up to 26 weeks Additional Statutory Paternity Leave; the first 19 would be paid at Additional Statutory Paternity Pay and the remaining 7 weeks would be unpaid.

Example 2; if the primary carer goes back to work after 39 weeks maternity leave, they would have zero weeks of Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance remaining.  Therefore the father/partner could take up to 13 weeks Additional Statutory Paternity Leave but this would be unpaid.

What if I don't qualify for Additional Paternity Leave or Pay?

If you do not qualify for APL or APP you may be able to take annual leave or unpaid parental leave instead.  Please see the University’s Parental Leave policy 

In addition you may also be able to request a more flexible working pattern.  Please see the University’s Flexible Working policy 

If you apply for and do not qualify for Additional Statutory Paternity Pay, the University will give you a ASPP1 form, explaining the reason why ASPP is not payable.

How do I apply for APL?

To qualify, you must give at least eight weeks notice to your Head of School/Unit and Human Resources of your intention to take APL.  You must complete the Notification of Additional Statutory Paternity Leave Form (Appendix1).

You must complete and sign the form declaring your eligibility for APL and confirming the child’s date of birth and proposed dates of your APL.

In addition, you must provide

  • The name and address of the child’s mother, co-adopter, adopter or your partner’s employer.
  • A copy of one of the following, as applicable:
    • child’s birth certificate
    • notification from adoption agency confirming placement date
    • official notification from the relevant domestic authority confirming placement date
On receipt of the required information set out above, including the child’s birth certificate, providing all eligibility criteria have been met, then Human Resources will, within 28 days of receipt of the information, write to you, confirming the APL period as requested.

Your partner must also provide a signed declaration confirming:

  • Their name and address;
  • National insurance number;
  • They were eligible to receive statutory maternity/adoption pay/allowance;
  • The date statutory maternity/adoption pay/allowance period commenced;
  • The date on which they intend to return from maternity (or adoption) leave;
  • Confirmation that the member of staff taking additional paternity/maternity support leave is eligible to take the leave and is the only person taking that leave.

Returning to work

Confirmation of partner’s return to work

If required Human Resources will contact the primary carer’s employer to confirm that they have physically returned to work following their maternity or adoption leave.  If the employer cannot confirm that the partner has physically returned to work then you cannot start your APL and the University will be unable to pay you APP.

What should I do if I decide to return to work earlier than the date I originally stated I would return on?

Employees who wish to return to work earlier than the originally intended date must provide at least 6 weeks written notice of this intention to their Head of School/Unit and Human Resources.

What happens if the mother, co-adopter, adopter or your partner dies after a child’s birth or adoption placement?

In this instance, the father or partner will be able to take Additional Paternity Leave at an earlier point and for a longer period of time.

Provided you have not already taken your additional paternity leave entitlement, then you are entitled to take extended additional paternity leave. This can be for any period from the date of the mother/co-adopter's death until the child's first birthday or first anniversary of the placement.  Additional statutory paternity pay is payable throughout the mother/co-adopter's statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance or statutory adoption pay period.

If you have already completed additional paternity leave for your child then you cannot request further additional paternity leave if the mother dies.   If the employee is already on additional paternity leave, the leave period may be extended until the child's first birthday or first anniversary of the placement.

If the mother/partner dies then you should contact Human Resources as soon as reasonably practical.

Keeping in touch during APL

During APL, the employer and the employee may make reasonable contact with each other.  Reasonable contact will vary according to individual circumstances and should be agreed between both the employer and employee. You can work for up to 10 days, by mutual agreement with your line manager, during your APL without it impacting on the APL or your right to APP.

The idea behind this is to allow you to keep in touch with colleagues and your School/Unit during your leave.  Keeping in Touch Days (KIT days) can simply be used for you to undertake normal contractual duties or it could be used for allowing the employee to attend a scheduled conference, training, team meetings, away days, or performance & development reviews.

The days do not have to be worked consecutively and you will be paid at your normal rate of pay or the appropriate rate for the work you undertake on these days. Working part of a day will count as one day’s work.  You will be paid per day irrespective of the total number of hours worked during a KIT day.  The payment is calculated by taking your average monthly salary and dividing it by the total number of calendar days in that specific month.

KIT days do not extend the ASPL or pay periods in any way.

All payments will include SPP where applicable. Managers will be responsible for advising the Salaries Office of any work undertaken by the employee in order that the necessary salary payments can be made.  To pay an employee who undertakes KIT days, please complete and return the form in Appendix 3 to the Salaries Office.

KIT days are optional and the University has no right to force you to work your KIT day entitlement.  Keeping in Touch days may be undertaken at any stage during APL but not during any annual leave period that is used directly after your APL.

Your manager may also make reasonable contact with you during APL, regardless or not whether you do any work to update you on developments within the University, promotion opportunities or to discuss your return to work.

Frequently Asked Questions

APL is structured so that it does not adversely affect your position at work. When you return from APL you will return to your original job.  In some cases a return to your original job may not be possible, if for example, your department has restructured.  If this happens you will be guaranteed to return to a post of a similar grade.  In all cases your return to work will be without loss of seniority or status.

This section deals with some of the frequently asked questions about APL and returning to work. If you have any queries which are not answered below, please contact Human Resources on ext. 3096 or e-mail.

If I am on a fixed term contract am I entitled to APL?

Regardless of whether you are on a fixed-term or standard contract, if you meet the qualifying periods stated in this policy then you are entitled to the APL.

If my contract ends during my APL what will happen?

You will continue to receive your APL and APP.  Some funding bodies cover periods leave and contracts may be extended to continue beyond the APL period to allow you to return to work.  Your Principal Investigator should discuss this with the Research Funding Office or HR where not externally funded.

How does Additional Statutory Paternity Leave affect terms and conditions of service?

Employees will continue to benefit from their normal terms and conditions of service during the period of their Additional Statutory Paternity Leave except your normal salary, and in addition

  • Continuous service with the University will continue;
  • Annual leave continues to accrue as normal, please see Appendix 4 for further details;
  • Pension rights and contributions are dealt with in accordance with the University Schemes – see below;
  • An employee has the right to return from a period of Additional Statutory Paternity Leave to the same job as before, unless a redundancy situation has arisen;
  • An employee’s entitlement to apply for and take Research Leave is unaffected. 

What happens to my pension contributions while I’m on Additional Statutory Paternity Leave?

Your membership of either USS or S&LAS will be maintained during the duration of your paid period of APL.  However you can arrange to stop making payments during your APL, please contact the Pension Administrator once you have decided your APL dates to discuss stopping your payments.

If you are on unpaid APL, then your contributions will stop until you return to work.  The Pensions Administrator will contact you at the start of the unpaid APL detailing the shortfall in contributions during this period and give you an option to maintain your contributions. Employer contributions missed as a result of any unpaid leave will only be paid over if you elect to maintain your employee contributions after a period of nil pay.

Further details about the pension options available can be obtained from the Pensions Administrator on ext. 2546.

What happens if I want to take an extended period of leave at the end of APL?

In some circumstances it may be possible for you to extend your APL into a career break, but this must be discussed with your Head of School/Unit and Human Resources. Any agreement on extended leave will depend on the circumstances of your job and operational requirements of School or Unit.

Can I come back to work part-time?

You do not have an automatic right to return to work part-time but you are entitled to ask about the possibility of changing your hours. If you want to return to work on a part-time basis you should discuss this with your Head of School/Unit as early as possible.  Any request will be given reasonable consideration by the University. Please see the University’s Flexible Working Policy.

Please Note: You should be aware that where a permanent change to your hours has been made, you do not have an automatic right to revert to full time hours in the future.  You can opt for a phased return, initially coming back part time and working up to full time hours if feasible within your School/Unit.

What happens if I don’t come back to work?

If you do not to return to work on the date agreed and fail to notify the University of your absence then disciplinary action may be taken for unauthorised leave.

Do I still get an increment while I’m on APL?

Yes – your entitlement to annual increments is unchanged.

What happens to the annual pay award if I’m on APL?

You are entitled to the annual pay award and this will be administered as normal.  Your APP will be recalculated for the date the pay award is awarded to reflect the annual pay award.

Queries

If you have any queries regarding this policy please contact Human Resources on ext. 3096 or e-mail

Appendices:


Human Resources

April 2012