NHS Scotland New Parent Support Policy

Information regarding Paternity Leave can be found in the above policy. At a glance, the different types of New Parent Support leave are as follows:

Paternity Leave: An employee’s entitlement to leave from work for the purpose of caring for a child or supporting the mother following birth.

Adoptive Paternity Leave: An employee’s entitlement to leave from work for the purpose of caring for an adopted child or supporting the adopter.

An employee is entitled to take up to 2 weeks of new parent support leave, which does not affect their contractual rights. They must be the spouse or civil partner, partner, or nominated carer of a mother who gives birth to a child. Otherwise, they must be the biological father of the child.

New parent support leave is also available to intended parents on the birth of a child through a surrogacy arrangement.

New parent support leave is also available to employees who are adoptive parents where a child is matched or newly placed with them for adoption. Either adoptive parent may take new parent support leave while the other parent has chosen to take adoption leave.

The employee can take their new parent support leave either as a block of 2 weeks or 2 single weeks.

New parent support leave

An employee is entitled to take up to 2 weeks of new parent support leave, which does not affect their contractual rights. They must be the spouse or civil partner, partner, or nominated carer of a mother who gives birth to a child. Otherwise, they must be the biological father of the child.

New parent support leave is also available to intended parents on the birth of a child through a surrogacy arrangement.

New parent support leave is also available to employees who are adoptive parents where a child is matched or newly placed with them for adoption. Either adoptive parent may take new parent support leave while the other parent has chosen to take adoption leave.

The employee can take their new parent support leave either as a block of 2 weeks or 2 single weeks.

New parent support leave can start either from the date the child is born or from the date the child is placed for adoption. In the case of overseas adoption, the start date is when the child arrives in the UK. In all cases, the leave may start an agreed number of days afterwards.

The period of new parent support leave must end within 52 weeks of the date the child is:

• born, or the due date if the child is born early
• placed for adoption
• placed or arrives in the UK in the case of overseas adoptions

Employees are entitled to new parent support leave where a child:

• dies
• is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy
• is no longer to be placed for adoption
• is returned after being placed

Under these circumstances, employees can continue to take new parent support leave which has already been agreed.

Employees who have not agreed new parent support leave continue to be entitled to new parent support leave. Under these circumstances, the leave period is restricted to 8 weeks from the date the child:

• dies
• is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy
• is no longer to be placed for adoption
• is returned after being placed

New parent support pay

Employees may be entitled to paid new parent support leave if they meet the eligibility criteria for Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) or Occupational Paternity Pay (OPP).

Only one period of new parent support pay is available when there are multiple births, such as twins.

Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP)

Employees may be entitled to SPP during their new parent support leave.

To qualify for SPP, an employee must have:

• Completed at least 26 weeks of continuous employment with their current NHS employer at the end of the 15th week before the EWC or the end of the week the adoption agency notifies them of a match. In the case of overseas adoptions, it is the date the child arrives in the UK or when the employee wants their pay to start.
• Average earnings above the lower earnings limit for National Insurance contributions during the 8 weeks before the end of the qualifying week.
• Followed the application procedures set out in this policy.

SPP is the lesser of the statutory weekly rate of SPP or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings. View UK Government statutory paternity pay and leave guidance .

Occupational Paternity Pay (OPP)

Employees granted new parent support leave will receive full pay during this period if they have at least 12 months of continuous service with an NHS employer.

Full pay will be calculated based on the average weekly earnings rules for calculating Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) or Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) entitlements. These are subject to the qualifications set out within sections 15.22 and 15.39 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook .

The eligible employee will receive full pay, which will include any SPP receivable.

To calculate continuous service eligibility criteria, the employer should consult the relevant NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook .

Financial support

Employees who do not meet SPP or OPP criteria should ask their local Jobcentre Plus office about financial support.

Paternity Leave Application Form

The paternity leave application form should be completed by the trainee and submitted to the educational supervisor/line manager for approval together with the supporting documentation.

Once approved by your line manager, please submit the completed paternity leave form and MATB1 certificate to https://nesdigital.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/30/group/121/create/594 (please select the Paternity Leave option).

The HR Trainee Services team are responsible for processing Paternity Leave requests for all NES employed trainees.