Ordinary Paternity Leave 





Ordinary paternity leave (OPL) is the right for a woman’s partner to take one or two weeks’ leave around the birth or adoption. The leave is intended to help care for a new baby or to support the baby’s mother, so it must be taken within eight weeks of birth or adoption. It is separate from the right to shared parental leave (SPL) and remains unchanged following the introduction of SPL.



There are no current plans to increase OPL beyond two weeks. In February 2018, the Women and Equalities Select Committee called for fathers to be given the option of twelve weeks’ paid paternity leave on a “use it or lose it” basis, as one way of addressing the maternity pay gap (see box on page 309).





To qualify for OPL a person must be:



• an employee;





• have at least 26 weeks’ service by the 15th week before the baby is due or the week the child is matched (or enters Great Britain in the case of an overseas adoption);





• be either the biological father, the mother’s husband or partner (including civil partner), the child’s adopter or the husband or partner (including civil partner) of the child’s adopter; and


• have or expect to have parental responsibility for the upbringing of the child.





The employee must give notice of intention to take OPL using HMRC Form SC3:





• before the 15th week before the expected week of birth; or





• within seven days of being matched with a child if adopting.





The entitlement is to one or two consecutive weeks’ leave which must be taken in a single block. There is no right to single days of leave or two separate weeks. There is no right to extra paternity leave for twins or triplets. An employee taking OPL is entitled to statutory paternity pay (see page 318).