Paternity leave

As a father or partner (male or female), if you will be sharing the main caring responsibility for your child, you can take 2 weeks leave on full pay after the birth or adoption of your child in order to care for them and your partner.

To be able to take this leave you must:

a) have worked continuously for the University for 26 weeks by the end of the qualifying week:

• for birth parents, this is 15 weeks before the baby is due,
• for adoptive parents, this is the week you are officially notified that you have been matched with a child. 

and

b) you must apply by giving a completed application form (a PL1 or a PATL(A) for those adopting) to your line manager and People and OD Operations by the deadline:

• for birth parents, this is 15 weeks before the baby is due,
• if you are adopting a child within the UK, this is within seven days of being officially notified that you have been matched with a child,
• if you are adopting a child from overseas, this is within 28 days of being officially notified that you have been matched with a child.

You are entitled to take your two weeks leave at any point during the first 52 weeks of your child's birth or placement with you, and you can either take the leave in one block of two consecutive weeks, or two separate blocks of one week each. 

Please read the Paternity Leave Policy for full details. 

Ante-natal / pre-adoption appointments 

You may also take unpaid time off to attend two antenatal appointments or pre-adoption appointments. 

The appointments, in the case of birth parents (such as a scan, test or routine check-up) must be on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, and in the case of adoptive parents (e.g. to have contact with the child, or attend a meeting) must be at the request of the adoption agency. You will need written confirmation of the appointment to show your line manager. 

If you wish to arrange time off please discuss this with your line manager.

Shared Parental Leave

If you would like to take more time off to care for your child, you may wish to consider Shared Parental Leave. This enables a mother to opt to end her maternity leave early, or an adopter to end his/her adoption leave early, and to share the remaining leave and pay entitlement with you.

As a couple you can chose how to split the leave - you may decide to be off work at the same time or take it in turns to have periods of leave to look after your child.

Paternity leave must be taken before the start of any shared parental leave, or the entitlement to paternity leave will be lost.

Details are contained in the Shared Parental Leave Policy.