Commentary on Sections Part One: Statutory Leave and Pay Paternity leave and Statutory Paternity Pay
9.Since 1999 fathers have been entitled to unpaid parental leave but they have not until now had a statutory right to paid leave to care for a child. Paid paternity leave in some form is offered by many employers - either on an ad hoc basis (as in many small firms) or as a formalised policy for all staff.
10.After the consultation process ended in 2001, the Government announced it was introducing a right to two weeks’ paid paternity leave from 2003. The new right to paternity leave is in addition to the right to 13 parental leave weeks’ (18 weeks’ for parents of disabled children) provided for in regulations made under the Employment Rights Act 1996. Statutory Paternity Pay will be financed by the state, with employers able to recover most or all of the amount of Statutory Paternity Pay they pay out.