Can i refuse paternity leave

You might be eligible for up to 2 weeks' paternity leave if you're responsible for the child's upbringing and either:. One partner can take paternity leave and the other can take maternity leave or adoption leave. You could also choose Shared Parental Leave. To be eligible for paternity leave when you and your partner are having a baby, including through surrogacy, you must:.

To be eligible for paternity leave when adopting a child, you must be legally classed as an employee. You must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks before the end of the week when:. To get paternity leave when you and your partner are having a baby, including through surrogacy, you must tell your employer:.

You must tell your employer within 7 days of being matched with a child. You should also tell them:. Your employer cannot refuse or postpone your paternity leave as long as you have given them the right amount of notice.

If you like, you can tell us more about what was useful on this page. These will normally be included in your employment contract. You can use statutory leave if this suits you better and you qualify for it. Expectant fathers and partners, including same sex partners, have the right to unpaid leave to accompany expectant mothers to two antenatal appointments.

The time off is capped at six and a half hours for each appointment. There is no qualifying period for an employee to have this right. The right applies whether the child is conceived naturally or through donor insemination. You also have the right if you will become a parent through a surrogacy and are eligible to apply for a Parental Order for the child born through this surrogacy.

To qualify for paternity leave, you must be an employee. You must use the time off to support the mother or care for the baby and be very involved in their upbringing. Paternity leave rights are extra to your holiday allowance. However, you cannot take paternity leave if you have first taken shared parental leave. If you're a worker, you don't qualify for paternity leave but may qualify for statutory Paternity Pay.

If you're an agency worker, office holder or subcontractor, you will not normally have the right to paternity leave. But you might be eligible for statutory Paternity Pay. Statutory Paternity Pay is paid for up to two consecutive weeks, depending on how long you choose to take paternity leave. To read more, go to:. If you don't qualify for paternity leave, your employer might give you some time off or you could take paid holiday. If you qualify for paternity leave but not statutory Paternity Pay, you may qualify for Income Support while on paternity leave.

As long as you meet certain conditions, you can take either one or two weeks' Paternity Leave. You can't take odd days off. If you take two weeks, you must take consecutive weeks. A week is based on your usual working pattern. If you only work Mondays and Tuesdays, a week would be two days. If you work Monday to Friday, a week would be five days. A pregnant woman has a right to paid time off to go to antenatal appointments. You also get this right if you meet the conditions for, and intend to apply for, a parental order for a child born through a surrogacy arrangement.

You can take up to 6. Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer. Top links Housing benefit. Top links Template letter to raise a grievance at work. Top links Our pensions advice Write a letter to your creditors. Top links If you want a refund because of coronavirus Contact the consumer helpline Report to Trading Standards Problems with a used car Return faulty goods Buying a used car Your energy supply View all.

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England This advice applies to England: England home Advice can vary depending on where you live. Parental rights at work This advice applies to England Print. You or your partner could be entitled to: maternity rights paternity leave and pay shared parental leave adoption leave and pay unpaid time off to look after your child come to antenatal appointments with your partner You get all these rights in same-sex relationships as well as in opposite-sex relationships. Did this advice help?