Paternity leave
NHS Scotland New Parent Support Policy
Information regarding Paternity Leave can be found in the above policy. At a glance, the different types of paternity 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.
Ordinary Statutory Paternity Leave or OSPL: Two weeks leave, to be taken in the first 8 weeks following the birth or adoptive placement of the child.
Additional Statutory Paternity Leave or ASPL: Up to 26 weeks leave. This must commence no earlier than 20 weeks after the birth/placement of the child, and must be completed either by the child’s first birthday, or 52 weeks after the date of the adoptive placement.
All employees, irrespective of length of service, are entitled to two weeks Ordinary Statutory Paternity Leave to care for their child and/or support the child’s mother/adopter in the weeks following birth/adoption placement provided they have, or expect to have, responsibility for the child’s upbringing.
In order to qualify for this leave, employees must meet one of the following criteria:
|
Birth |
Adoption |
|
(a) employee must be the biological father of the child |
|
|
(b) employee must be married to the mother of the child, but not the child’s biological father |
(a) employee must be married to the child’s adopter |
|
(c) employee must be the partner* of the mother, but not the child’s biological father |
(b) employee must be the partner* of the child’s adopter |
|
(d) employee must be the same-sex partner of the child’s mother |
(c) employee must be the same-sex partner of the child’s adopter |
|
(e) employee must be the legal guardian of the child |
|
* in the case of a “partner” as stated above, the employee must be in an enduring family relationship, but not a blood relative.
Ordinary Statutory Paternity Leave can only be taken in blocks of one week, which may be consecutive. Leave cannot be taken as odd days. If leave is taken as two separate weeks the full entitlement must be taken within eight weeks from the first day of the week of the birth/adoption.
If the child is born early, or placed for adoption early, OSPL must be completed by eight weeks after the date on which the birth or placement was originally expected.
An employee’s entitlement to leave is not increased by the birth, expected birth, or placement of more than one child as a result of the same pregnancy or adoption.
Additional Statutory Paternity Leave (ASPL) applies to parents of children due to be born or matched for adoption on or after 3rd April 2011. Eligible employees can apply for ASPL if they:
- meet the criteria for Ordinary Statutory Paternity Leave as detailed in Section 3, and;
- have at leave 26 weeks continuous service by the 15th week prior to the expected week childbirth/adoptive placement, and;
- are still employed by NES, or within the NHS, at the time when the Additional Statutory Paternity Leave is taken.
Eligible employees can take up to 26 weeks of Additional Statutory Paternity Leave (ASPL). This is in addition to the two weeks of OSPL which must be completed within the 8 weeks following birth/adoptive placement.ASPL can commence no earlier than 20 weeks after the birth or placement of the child, and must be completed by the time of the child’s first birthday, or 52 weeks after the adoptive placement.
The right to take ASPL can only be exercised if the child’s mother/adopter is employed and returns to work without exhausting her entitlement to the maximum of 52 weeks maternity/adoption leave.ASPL can only be taken in multiples of complete weeks and must be taken as one continuous period, odd days cannot be taken.
An employee’s entitlement to paternity leave and pay is dependant on the length of service they have with the NHS as at the 15th week before their baby will be born or placed for adoption. Please see below for further information.
|
Length of NHS Service |
Paternity Leave Entitlement |
Paternity Pay Entitlement |
|
Less than 26 weeks by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth or date the baby is placed for adoption |
Entitled to 2 weeks Ordinary Statutory Paternity Leave.
No entitlement to Additional Statutory Paternity Leave.
|
No entitlement to pay. |
|
26 weeks by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth or date the baby is placed for adoption, but less than 1 year. |
Entitled to 2 weeks Ordinary Statutory Paternity Leave.
and
Entitled to a maximum of 26 weeks Additional Statutory Paternity Leave. |
Entitled to receive pay at the statutory rate for the 2 weeks Ordinary Statutory Paternity Leave.
and
Entitled to receive Additional Statutory Paternity Pay, at the statutory rate per week, if partner has returned to work before the end of the 39 week statutory pay period.
|
|
1 year or over by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth or date the baby is placed for adoption. |
Entitled to 2 weeks Ordinary Statutory Paternity Leave.
and
Entitled to a maximum of 26 weeks Additional Statutory Paternity Leave. |
Entitled to receive full pay for the 2 weeks Ordinary Statutory Paternity Leave.
and
Entitled to receive Additional Statutory Paternity Pay, at the statutory rate per week, if partner has returned to work before the end of the 39 week statutory pay period.
|
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.