Two weeks off, and a payment most people are surprised by. See what your leave is worth — and whether you qualify for the pay as well as the time.
Paternity pay is based on your average weekly earnings over the eight weeks up to the 15th week before the due date.
Two weeks is the maximum. You can take them together or as two separate one-week blocks, any time in the first 52 weeks.
Since April 2026 the leave is a day-one right. The pay still is not — that split catches a lot of new starters out.
Many employers top paternity pay up to full pay for one or both weeks. Worth checking before you plan around the statutory figure.
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Statutory Paternity Pay is £194.32 a week, or 90% of your average weekly earnings if that is lower, for one or two weeks. Anyone earning above roughly £216 a week gets the flat rate, so for most people the full fortnight comes to about £389 — against two weeks of normal wages. That gap is the whole reason this page exists.
You can take the two weeks together or as two separate one-week blocks, and the leave has to end within 52 weeks of the birth. It goes in whole weeks; you cannot take odd days. Tell your employer the due date at least 15 weeks beforehand, and give 28 days’ notice if you want to move when the leave starts.
In April 2026 the Employment Rights Act 2025 made paternity leave a day-one right, removing the 26-week qualifying period. However new you are, you can take the time off.
The reform did not touch paternity pay. That still requires 26 weeks’ continuous employment up to the end of the qualifying week — the 15th week before the due date — plus average weekly earnings of at least £129. The practical result is a genuine gap in the system: a new starter can take two weeks of paternity leave and be paid nothing at all for them. The calculator above tests both conditions separately, because they now genuinely are separate questions.
If that is your position, ask rather than assume. Plenty of employers pay contractual paternity pay without applying the statutory service test, and many will let you take the time as paid annual leave instead. For two weeks it costs them little, and it is not something they tend to volunteer.
First, taking paternity leave does not reduce your Shared Parental Leave. The 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay in the shared parental system come out of the mother’s maternity entitlement, not out of your two weeks. You can take both. This is probably the most common misunderstanding about UK parental rights.
Second, annual leave is a legitimate alternative and often the better-paid one. Statutory paternity pay replaces a fraction of most wages, so a week of holiday means full pay for the same time at home. Plenty of people take one week of each. The one thing worth keeping is the paper trail on the paternity leave itself, because it carries statutory protections that ordinary holiday does not — it is unlawful to treat you badly for taking it, and Acas can advise if a request is refused.
£194.32 a week, or 90% of your average weekly earnings if that is lower, for one or two weeks. Anyone earning more than about £216 a week gets the flat rate, so for most people paternity pay is roughly £389 for the full fortnight — considerably less than two weeks of normal wages. Your employer may pay more under a contractual scheme, and plenty do.
No, not any more. Paternity leave became a day-one right in April 2026 when the Employment Rights Act 2025 removed the 26-week qualifying period. However long you have been there, you can take the time off provided you give the right notice.
No — and this is the trap. The reform changed the rules for leave but left the rules for pay alone. Statutory Paternity Pay still requires 26 weeks’ continuous employment up to the end of the qualifying week (the 15th week before the due date), plus average weekly earnings of at least £129. A new starter can therefore take the two weeks off and receive nothing for them. If that is you, ask your employer directly: many pay contractual paternity pay without applying the statutory service test, and some will let you take it as paid annual leave instead.
Up to two weeks. You can take both together or split them into two separate one-week blocks, and the leave must end within 52 weeks of the birth. You cannot take odd days — it goes in whole weeks. Tell your employer the due date at least 15 weeks beforehand, and give 28 days’ notice if you want to change when the leave starts.
No. Paternity leave sits entirely outside the shared parental pot. The 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay available through Shared Parental Leave come out of the mother’s maternity entitlement, not out of your two weeks. You can take your paternity leave and still take shared parental leave afterwards. This is one of the most common misunderstandings about the system.
Yes. It counts as earnings, so income tax and National Insurance come off it exactly as they would from salary. Because it is only one or two weeks, it will not usually change your overall tax position for the year much — but the payslip for that month will be noticeably lighter, since £194.32 is replacing a full week’s wages.
Financially, often yes, and there is nothing wrong with doing it. Statutory paternity pay replaces a fraction of most people’s wages, so taking the time as annual leave means full pay for the same time off — at the cost of holiday you would otherwise use later in the year. Some people take one week of paternity leave and one week of annual leave. The one thing worth protecting is the notice trail: paternity leave carries statutory protections that ordinary holiday does not.
You must be the baby’s father, or the mother’s spouse, civil partner or partner, or the child’s adopter or intended parent through surrogacy, and you must expect to have responsibility for the child’s upbringing. It is not limited to fathers, and it is available for adoption and surrogacy as well as birth. Employees qualify; genuinely self-employed contractors do not, because both the leave and the pay are employment rights.
Not if you are eligible and have given proper notice. They can ask you to confirm entitlement in writing, but they cannot simply decline it, and it is unlawful to treat you badly or dismiss you for taking it. If a request is refused, Acas can advise, and employment tribunal time limits are short so it is worth acting quickly.
The 52-week window runs from the actual birth, or from the due date if the baby arrives early, so an early arrival does not cost you the entitlement. If you had booked leave and the dates no longer work, you can change them with 28 days’ notice. If the baby comes before the notice period has run, employers are generally expected to be flexible — give notice as soon as is reasonably practicable.
All free and independent:
If your employer will not pay statutory paternity pay you believe you are owed, HMRC’s Statutory Payment Dispute Team can decide the matter — free, and without needing a solicitor.
Thinking about taking more of the leave between you? See whether sharing it costs your household money.
