Important information relating to Additional Paternity Leave and Pay

Government’s goal

Government has a goal to extend Statutory Maternity Pay [SMP], Maternity Allowance [MA] and Statutory Adoption Pay [SAP] from 39 weeks to 52 weeks and to introduce Additional Paternity Leave and Pay [APL&P] by the end of this Parliament. Additional Paternity Leave and Pay would give employed fathers a right to take up to an additional 26 weeks off work with pay to care for their child in its first year, if the mother has returned to work and had not used her full entitlement to paid maternity leave.

Timing

It remains Government’s goal to introduce these changes by the end of this Parliament. However the implementation date has not yet been decided. In the meantime to give employers some clarity and further time to make their preparations the Government has decided that these changes will not be implemented in April 2009.

It has previously been announced that they will not be implemented in April 2008.

What this means in practice

HMRC has, up to now, been planning on the basis of implementation for babies due on or after April 2009. We will now start planning implementation for babies due on or after April 2010. This should not be taken to imply any timing decisions have been taken. It is simply a pragmatic approach. We will not be planning for implementation in October 2009.