How to update your paternity and parental leave policy

Before you start

Legal basis. The day-one changes come from the Employment Rights Act 2025 [14]. Bereaved partner's paternity leave comes from SI 2026/237 [6]. Statutory paternity pay (SPP) and statutory shared parental pay (ShPP) are set by the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 [13]. This guide covers Great Britain.

Who to involve. HR, reward, payroll, HR systems, line managers and employee representatives. Take legal advice on contract changes.

What you need. Current policies and contract templates, the service rules in payroll and HR systems, and recent case numbers for costing.

For how UK employers approach these choices, see the full findings.

Step 1: Remove service conditions from leave

From 6 April 2026, paternity leave and unpaid parental leave apply from the first day of employment, replacing 26-week and one-year service tests [3][8][10]. Delete those tests from policies, offer letters and HR systems. Also delete any rule that paternity leave can't follow shared parental leave: SI 2026/15 omitted regulation 4(1A) of the Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002, so the two can be taken in any order [15].

This is a legal requirement. In the lumi reward benchmark, 60.6% of organisations said they had made both available from day one and 39.4% said they had not (n = 269). The collection window, 2026 H1, spans the April change.

Step 2: Keep the pay conditions separate

Day-one leave doesn't mean day-one pay. For SPP, the employee must have 26 weeks' continuous service up to any day in the qualifying week (the 15th week before the baby is due), still be employed at the birth, earn at least £129 a week on average over an 8-week relevant period, and give the correct notice [3]. For adoption, service is counted to the matching week [8].

SPP for 2026/27 is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower [4]. The 90% rate applies below £215.91 a week: on an illustrative £180 a week, SPP is £162.00 (computed in Python).

If an employee doesn't qualify, send form SPP1 within 28 days of their pay request and keep a copy [3]. They still get the leave.

Step 3: Rewrite the notice and booking rules

State the statutory rules [2][3][8]:

• Entitlement and pay. The employee gives the due date, and claims SPP, at least 15 weeks before the baby is due; for a UK adoption, within 7 days of being matched.
• Dates. At least 28 days before each period of leave, they say when it starts and whether it is 1 or 2 weeks.
• Late notice. Without a reasonable excuse, you can delay leave or pay by writing within 28 days of the request.

Blocks. Employees take 1 or 2 weeks, together or as two separate one-week blocks [2]. Leave can't start before the birth and must end within 52 weeks of it (or of the due date, if the baby is early). For adoption, the 52 weeks run from placement, or from arrival in Great Britain [8].

Step 4: Decide whether and how to enhance paternity pay

By law, contractual pay for a period counts towards the SPP due for that period, and the reverse [13]. So write that enhanced pay includes SPP. Only the statutory part can be reclaimed [5].

In the lumi reward benchmark, the median number of weeks of enhanced paternity pay above statutory is 2 (25th percentile 0, 75th percentile 4, range 0 to 26 weeks; n = 266).

Worked example. Salary £35,000 (illustrative only, not a benchmark), so weekly pay is £673.08 and 90% is £605.77. SPP is £194.32. Assumes the employee qualifies for SPP and you reclaim 92%. Computed in Python; National Insurance and pension excluded.

Step 5: Add bereaved partner's paternity leave

This applies where the mother, main adopter or main intended parent died on or after 6 April 2026 [6][7]:

• Who. The father, or the partner of the mother, adopter or intended parent, with the main caring responsibility. No service requirement.
• How much. Up to 52 weeks in one continuous block, from the day after the death, ending by the child's first birthday or the first anniversary of placement. Where the death falls less than 14 days before that point, 14 days' leave can still be taken, ending within 14 days of the death [6][7].
• Notice. Within 8 weeks of the death, informal notice before the first day is enough. After that, at least one week's notice in writing.
• Evidence. The regulations require written declarations of the leave's purpose and the employee's relationship to the child. They prescribe no documentary evidence, such as a death certificate [6].
• Pay. None by law. Any pay you give can't be reclaimed.

In the lumi reward benchmark, 67.0% of organisations provide statutory only (common), 23.5% enhanced pay (alternative) and 9.5% had not yet reviewed it (rare) (n = 264).

Step 6: Update unpaid parental leave

State the rules [9][10]: up to 18 weeks per child until their 18th birthday; no more than 4 weeks a year per child, in whole weeks unless you agree otherwise or the child is disabled; weeks used with a previous employer count; 21 days' notice with start and end dates. You can postpone leave by up to 6 months for a significant business reason, in writing within 7 days, but not leave a father or partner takes straight after a birth or adoption.

In the lumi reward benchmark, 63.0% of organisations provide statutory unpaid parental leave only (common) and 37.0% provide paid leave (alternative) (n = 262).

Step 7: Review shared parental leave and pay

Shared parental leave (SPL) is not a day-one right. The basics [11][12]:

• Parents share up to 50 weeks' leave and 37 weeks' pay in the first year after birth or placement.
• The employee needs 26 weeks' service by the end of the 15th week before the due date and, for ShPP, earnings of at least £129 a week. Their partner must have worked 26 of the 66 weeks before the due week and earned £390 across any 13 of them.
• ShPP is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower [4].
• Each block needs 8 weeks' notice; each parent can give up to 3 booking notices. You can't refuse a continuous block. You can refuse a discontinuous one; if no pattern is agreed within 14 days, the employee can withdraw or take one block.

Contractual pay counts towards ShPP for the same period [13].

Step 8: Update payroll and HR systems

• Remove service checks for paternity, parental and bereaved partner's leave; keep the pay checks for SPP and ShPP.
• Add bereaved partner's paternity leave as an absence type.
• Load £194.32 for SPP and ShPP, paid like wages with tax and National Insurance deducted [2].
• Reclaim 92% of SPP and ShPP through your Employer Payment Summary, or 109% if your Class 1 National Insurance for the previous tax year was £45,000 or less [4][5]. Top-ups can't be reclaimed.
• Track the 52-week paternity deadline and parental leave limits per child.
• Keep SPP records, including weeks not paid and why, for 3 years after the tax year ends [3].

Step 9: Communicate the changes

Put any enhanced leave or pay in the written statement or contract and in the policy, as Acas advises [10][12]. Brief managers that they can't refuse paternity leave for lack of service or postpone parental leave taken straight after a birth, and that bereaved partner's leave rests on declarations, with no documentary evidence prescribed. Tell new starters which rights apply from day one. Publish the policy and review it by 6 April 2027.

Checklist

• Service tests and the SPL order rule removed from leave policies
• SPP conditions stated separately from leave
• 2026/27 rate of £194.32 loaded for SPP and ShPP
• Notice, block and 52-week rules stated
• Enhanced paternity pay decided and costed
• Bereaved partner's paternity leave added, with a pay decision
• Parental leave rules and any pay stated
• SPL rules and enhanced pay reviewed
• SPP1 process, records and reclaim at 92% (or 109%) in place
• Managers briefed and policy published

Related

• Paternity and shared parental leave: UK benchmark 2026 — the benchmark findings behind the figures in this guide.
• How to write an enhanced maternity and adoption pay policy
• How to handle a statutory flexible working request
• How lumi works: methodology — how these figures are collected and calculated.