Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave

Covered in this video are three interconnected areas of statutory family leave: paternity rights, adoption rights and the Shared Parental Leave system — all examined within the framework of Unit 5OS01 and AC 4.2. The video addresses the significant legislative changes to paternity leave introduced in April 2024, including the revised 52-week window for taking leave and the option to split it into separate blocks, alongside the qualifying conditions tied to continuous employment from the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. Statutory Paternity Pay, calculated at the flat rate or 90% of average weekly earnings, and its relationship to the lower earnings limit for National Insurance contributions, also feature in this part of the video.

The adoption rights section examines how Statutory Adoption Leave and Statutory Adoption Pay are structured to mirror the maternity provisions covered in the companion video on this unit, including the division into 26 weeks of ordinary and 26 weeks of additional leave, and the matching-week qualifying threshold. The video also addresses how leave is allocated between partners in joint adoption cases, where one takes adoption leave and the other may take paternity leave. These provisions are examined alongside the broader principle, relevant to AC 4.2, that adoptive families hold equivalent rights to biological families under employment law.

The final section of the video turns to Shared Parental Leave, introduced in 2015, covering how mothers or primary adopters can curtail their leave to release a remaining balance of up to 52 weeks for both parents to share. The video addresses the dual eligibility tests — the continuity of employment test and the employment and earnings test across 66 weeks — alongside the notice requirements, the mechanics of requesting discontinuous blocks, and employer powers to refuse such requests. The relatively low take-up of SPL since its introduction, and the financial and administrative factors associated with that pattern, are also examined as part of understanding the practical operation of these rights within organisations.