Additional Paternity Pay and Leave: employer guide

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Additional Paternity Pay and Leave: employer guide

Employees can ask you for Statutory Additional Paternity Leave and Pay if their partner returns to work before the end of their maternity (or adoption) leave or pay period.

Calculate Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP) by:

Entitlement

Eligible employees are entitled to:

  • Additional Paternity Leave (APL) - for between 2 and 26 weeks
  • ASPP - £139.58 per week or 90% of their gross average weekly earnings (whichever is lower)

You can offer more if you have a company paternity scheme. An employee’s employment rights (like the right to pay, holidays and returning to a job) are protected during APL. You still have to pay ASPP even if you stop trading.

Start and end dates

Leave or pay can only start 20 weeks after the birth, adoption or child’s arrival in the UK (for overseas adoptions). Leave stops on the child’s first birthday or 52 weeks after the child starts living with the adopter.

Pay stops when the mother’s maternity or adoption pay would have ended.

Employees can change these dates if they give you 6 weeks’ notice.

Special situations

Some employment types like agency workers, directors and educational workers have different rules for entitlement.

There are special rules for some employee situations, eg if they leave, become sick or if they or their child dies.

Unpaid Additional Paternity Leave (APL)

Your employee can take unpaid APL if they’re eligible for leave but not pay. All APL taken after the end of the Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance or Statutory Adoption Pay period is unpaid.

Eligibility

Employees are eligible if:

  • they’ve worked for you continuously for at least 26 weeks by the ‘qualifying week’ or matching week (or the official notification for overseas adoptions)
  • they’re employed by you the week before their leave or pay starts (Sunday to Saturday)
  • they’re on your payroll and earn at least £112 a week (gross) in an 8-week period
  • their partner has at least 2 weeks left of their maternity or adoption pay (ASPP only)
  • they and their partner give you the correct notice

Notice period

Employees must give you at least 8 weeks’ notice before their period of additional pay or leave starts (this doesn’t apply if the mother or adopter has died). They must give you the appropriate form (or your own version) depending on whether they’re:

You must confirm in writing within 28 days of their request:

  • what ASPP they’ll get
  • their leave start and end dates

If an employee doesn’t give you the right amount of notice without a good reason, you can delay the start of leave and the pay period until you’ve had acceptable notice.

Proof you can ask for

You can ask for:

  • proof of the birth or adoption, eg a birth certificate, letter from the adoption agency or ‘official notification’ (for overseas adoptions)
  • the contact details of their partner’s employer, eg to check when their partner’s maternity pay ends

They should give this to you within 28 days.

Refusing leave or pay

If an employee doesn’t qualify, write to them within 28 days of their request and include form ASPP1 - non-payment of Additional Statutory Paternity Pay.

Record keeping

You must keep records for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), including:

  • proof of the birth or adoption, or the contact details of their partner’s employer
  • the appropriate application form (SC7, SC8, SC9 or SC10)
  • details of any changes to your original application
  • your ASPP payments (including dates)
  • the payments you’ve reclaimed
  • any weeks you didn’t pay and why

You must keep records for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to (eg by using form ASPP2).

Help with statutory payments

For financial help with statutory pay, you can:

  • reclaim payments (usually 92%)
  • apply for an advance if you can’t afford payments

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