In the lumi reward benchmark, the median UK organisation provides 2 weeks of enhanced paternity pay above statutory (n = 266), and 46.2% provide enhanced shared parental pay above statutory (n = 251, 2026 H1).
Key findings
- The median organisation provides 2 weeks of enhanced paternity pay above statutory. The 25th percentile is 0 weeks, the 75th percentile is 4 weeks and the range runs from 0 to 26 weeks (n = 266).
- 46.2% provide enhanced shared parental pay above statutory provision. Statutory only is the common answer, at 53.8% (n = 251).
- 37.0% provide paid parental leave beyond statutory unpaid parental leave. Statutory unpaid only is the common answer, at 63.0% (n = 262).
- 60.6% say they have made paternity and unpaid parental leave available from day one of employment. 39.4% say they have not (n = 269).
- For the new bereaved partner's paternity entitlement, 67.0% provide statutory only and 23.5% provide enhanced pay. 9.5% answer "Not yet reviewed" (n = 264).
- Paid grandparental leave is rare: 5.3% provide it and 94.7% do not (n = 266).
About the data
This paper reports how UK employers answered lumi's questions on paternity, shared parental and parental leave. The lumi reward benchmark covers 269 UK organisations across 14 sectors and five size bands. Data was collected in the 2026 H1 collection window. Each figure gives its base (n): the number of organisations that answered that question. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place, so a distribution can add up to 100.1%. Figures here are national. Sector and size comparisons are available to lumi members. See how lumi works for the method.
The legal context
Two changes that took effect on 6 April 2026 bear directly on this paper. Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave became day-one rights, available from the first day of employment. A new entitlement, bereaved partner's paternity leave, provides up to 52 weeks of leave if the mother or primary adopter dies.
The other choices reported here are not set by statute. Whether to pay above statutory for paternity or shared parental leave, whether to pay for any parental leave, whether to enhance the bereaved partner's entitlement and whether to offer grandparental leave are decisions for each employer.
How many weeks of enhanced paternity pay do UK employers provide?
lumi asked: How many weeks of enhanced paternity pay do you provide above statutory? (n = 266)
| Measure | Weeks |
|---|---|
| 25th percentile | 0 |
| Median | 2 |
| 75th percentile | 4 |
| Range | 0 to 26 |
The median is 2 weeks. The 25th percentile is 0 weeks, so at least a quarter of organisations report no enhanced weeks above statutory. The 75th percentile is 4 weeks, and the highest answer recorded is 26 weeks.
These figures describe duration, not generosity in cash terms. A week paid at full salary and a week paid at a partial top-up each count as one week here. The question also does not record whether the enhanced weeks must be taken in one block, or any length-of-service condition attached to them.
For someone designing paternity pay, the quartiles give a frame of reference in weeks, the unit the question uses. An organisation providing 2 weeks sits at the median. One providing 4 weeks sits at the 75th percentile. The range reaches 26 weeks, but it does not show how many organisations provide more than 4 weeks.
The day-one change adds a further design point. From 6 April 2026, paternity leave is available from the first day of employment. Any service requirement for enhanced paternity pay therefore sits alongside a leave entitlement that has none. The benchmark does not record service requirements, so it cannot show how organisations have handled this.
How have UK employers responded to the April 2026 leave changes?
Day-one paternity and parental leave
lumi asked: Have you made paternity and unpaid parental leave available from day one of employment (ERA 2025, April 2026)? (n = 269)
"Yes" is the common answer, chosen by 60.6%. "No" is an alternative answer, chosen by 39.4%.
Every organisation that reached this question answered it. It asks about the organisation's own policy and is not a test of legal compliance. The change took effect on 6 April 2026, inside the 2026 H1 collection window, so some answers may have been given before it applied. This paper does not separate answers by date. A "No" may reflect the timing of the response, a policy document not updated when the organisation answered, or how the respondent read the question.
Where enhanced paternity pay or paid parental leave carries its own eligibility rules, those rules sit beside leave that has no service condition. Whether to align the two is a choice the benchmark does not capture.
Bereaved partner's paternity leave
lumi asked: Have you enhanced pay or leave for the new bereaved partner's paternity entitlement (Employment Rights Act 2025)? (n = 264)
"Statutory only" is the common answer, chosen by 67.0%. "Enhanced pay" is an alternative answer, chosen by 23.5%. "Not yet reviewed" is rare, at 9.5%.
The recorded answers refer to pay. None records enhanced leave on its own. The statutory entitlement itself provides up to 52 weeks of leave. The "Not yet reviewed" group shows that, for these organisations, the question of enhancement is open.
The entitlement applies only after the death of the mother or primary adopter. Its use in any single organisation is therefore hard to predict, and the circumstances of each case are severe. A written enhancement fixes the terms before they are needed, so they are set in advance and apply as written to whatever case arises. A statutory-only position leaves any additional support to discretion, so the terms are open to the circumstances of the case and are decided at the time. Organisations that enhance maternity or adoption pay may also ask whether to extend the same treatment to a partner caring for the child in place of the parent who has died.
Do UK employers offer paid grandparental leave?
lumi asked: Do you provide paid grandparental leave? (n = 266)
"No" is the common answer, chosen by 94.7%. "Yes" is rare, chosen by 5.3%.
The question does not record how much leave is provided, at what rate, or who qualifies. Paid grandparental leave extends family policy beyond the parents of a child. An organisation that offers it has made decisions about who counts as family for leave purposes, how much time to fund, and how the leave relates to other leave in the policy.
For the 5.3% who provide it, paid grandparental leave reflects a wider view of the family unit. For the 94.7% who do not, grandparents' caring needs may be met through general leave, flexible working or discretion, none of which this question measures.
What the data means for reward decisions
Each question in this paper is reported on its own. The data does not show how organisations combine these policies, so it cannot say whether the organisations that enhance shared parental pay are the same ones that pay for parental leave. A reward manager reading these figures is looking at six separate decisions, each with its own cost profile.
The first trade-off is between predictability and reach. Enhanced paternity pay is bounded by a stated number of weeks. Shared parental pay depends on how families divide leave. Paid parental leave depends on how often employees use it. Bereaved partner's leave arises only after the death of the mother or primary adopter, and so its cost is uncertain in a different way: the question is not how many people will use it, but what the organisation will pay if one person does. Grandparental leave widens the group of people eligible for family leave altogether.
The second trade-off is between parity and simplicity. Enhancing one form of leave but not another is simpler to cost. It also creates differences between parents, or between parents and other relatives, that follow from the policy structure rather than any stated intent.
The third is between written policy and discretion. The bereaved partner's entitlement shows this most clearly, but it applies throughout. A written enhancement gives employees certainty and avoids case-by-case decisions. Discretion keeps options open and puts more weight on managers' judgement.
Questions a reward manager might ask when reading these figures:
- Where does our enhanced paternity pay sit against the median of 2 weeks and the quartiles of 0 and 4 weeks (n = 266), and is that position one we have chosen?
- If we enhance one form of family leave, how might that change which parent takes leave, or which type of leave families use?
- Do our eligibility rules for enhanced pay still make sense beside day-one paternity and parental leave?
- Have we set a position on the bereaved partner's entitlement, or would we be deciding it at the time it is needed?
- Who counts as family in our leave policies, and is that definition deliberate?
- How does our family leave offer sit alongside our wider gender equality work, including gender pay gap reporting, which is required of employers with 250 or more employees, and gender equality and menopause action plans, introduced on a voluntary basis on 6 April 2026 and due to become mandatory in 2027 (timing to be confirmed)?
The figures describe what UK employers report. They do not set a standard. A common answer is the one chosen most often, not a target.
Frequently asked questions
How many weeks of enhanced paternity pay do UK employers provide?
In the lumi reward benchmark, the median UK organisation provides 2 weeks of enhanced paternity pay above statutory (n = 266). The 25th percentile is 0 weeks and the 75th percentile is 4 weeks, with answers running from 0 to 26 weeks. The question measures duration, not the rate of pay.
What percentage of UK employers enhance shared parental pay?
In the lumi reward benchmark, 46.2% of UK organisations provide enhanced shared parental pay above statutory provision (n = 251). Statutory only is the common answer, at 53.8%. The question is a yes/no measure, so it does not record how many weeks are enhanced or at what rate.
Do UK employers pay for parental leave beyond the statutory unpaid entitlement?
In the lumi reward benchmark, 37.0% of UK organisations provide some paid parental leave beyond statutory unpaid parental leave (n = 262). Statutory unpaid only is the common answer, at 63.0%. The question asks about "any" paid parental leave, so the figure shows whether organisations pay, not how much.
Have UK employers made paternity and parental leave available from day one?
In the lumi reward benchmark, 60.6% of UK organisations say they have made paternity and unpaid parental leave available from day one of employment, and 39.4% say they have not (n = 269). Both became day-one rights on 6 April 2026, inside the collection window, so some answers may predate the change.
How many UK employers have enhanced bereaved partner's paternity pay?
In the lumi reward benchmark, 23.5% of UK organisations provide enhanced pay for the new bereaved partner's paternity entitlement and 67.0% provide statutory only (n = 264). A further 9.5% answer "Not yet reviewed". The statutory entitlement provides up to 52 weeks of leave if the mother or primary adopter dies.
What percentage of UK employers offer paid grandparental leave?
In the lumi reward benchmark, 5.3% of UK organisations provide paid grandparental leave and 94.7% do not (n = 266). The question does not record how much leave is provided, at what rate, or who qualifies.
Notes
- Base, "Not applicable" handling and rounding are as described in "About the data". Each n is the number of organisations that answered that question, so bases differ between questions, from 251 to 269.
- None of the questions in this paper excludes "Not applicable" from its base.
- The enhanced paternity pay question is numeric. It is reported in weeks as median, 25th percentile, 75th percentile and range, and measures duration, not the rate of pay.
- Prevalence words apply to single-select and yes/no questions only. "Common" is the most frequently chosen answer. "Alternative" is chosen by 20% or more but is not the most common. "Rare" is chosen by under 20%.
- No figure in this paper combines answers across questions.
Data appendix
Every question on this page, with its base and full distribution, as a spreadsheet: download the CSV.
All national figures used in this paper, as recorded in the lumi reward benchmark (collection window 2026 H1).
How many weeks of enhanced paternity pay do you provide above statutory?
Base: 266 organisations
Median 2 · 25th percentile 0 · 75th percentile 4 · range 0 to 26 weeks
Do you provide enhanced shared parental pay above statutory provision?
Base: 251 organisations
| Answer | % of base | Organisations | Prevalence |
|---|---|---|---|
| No (statutory only) | 53.8% | 135 | common |
| Yes | 46.2% | 116 | alternative |
Do you provide any paid parental leave beyond statutory unpaid parental leave?
Base: 262 organisations
| Answer | % of base | Organisations | Prevalence |
|---|---|---|---|
| No (statutory unpaid only) | 63.0% | 165 | common |
| Yes - paid leave is provided | 37.0% | 97 | alternative |
Have you made paternity and unpaid parental leave available from day one of employment (ERA 2025, April 2026)?
Base: 269 organisations
| Answer | % of base | Organisations | Prevalence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 60.6% | 163 | common |
| No | 39.4% | 106 | alternative |
Have you enhanced pay or leave for the new bereaved partner's paternity entitlement (Employment Rights Act 2025)?
Base: 264 organisations
| Answer | % of base | Organisations | Prevalence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statutory only | 67.0% | 177 | common |
| Enhanced pay | 23.5% | 62 | alternative |
| Not yet reviewed | 9.5% | 25 | rare |
Do you provide paid grandparental leave?
Base: 266 organisations
| Answer | % of base | Organisations | Prevalence |
|---|---|---|---|
| No | 94.7% | 252 | common |
| Yes | 5.3% | 14 | rare |
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David Whitfield, Paternity and shared parental leave: UK benchmark 2026. lumi, collection window 2026 H1. https://lumihr.co.uk/research/paternity-shared-parental-leave-2026Last reviewed 20 September 2026 · Figures describe organisations in the lumi reward benchmark, not a random sample of UK employers. Every figure on this page states the question asked and the number of organisations that answered it.