From 6th April 2026, employees will be eligible to give notice to take Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave from their first day of employment.
This change supports working parents and is claimed to help businesses attract and retain talent.
What are the changes?:
- Employees can give notice of Paternity Leave from day one of employment
- Employees can give notice of Unpaid Parental Leave from day one of employment
- Fathers and partners can now take Paternity Leave and Pay after Shared Parental Leave and Pay (previously this was not allowed)
- Continuity of service requirements for Paternity Pay remain unchanged
Temporary transitional arrangements for Paternity Leave
For newly eligible birth parents with a baby due before 26th July 2026, the notice period is temporarily reduced to 28 days.
Standard notice requirements (informing their employer of their intent to take Paternity Leave 15 weeks before the Expected Week of Childbirth, and 28 days before they want the leave to start) apply for those whose child is due on or after 26th July 2026.
Standard notice requirements for adopters and birth parents who qualified before 6th April 2026 remain unchanged.
How employers can prepare
Before 6th April 2026:
- Review the Paternity Leave and Parental Leave policies to reflect day-one eligibility
- Update the employee handbook and any template documents
- Brief line managers on the new entitlements
- Ensure your HR systems can process leave requests from new starters
- Communicate the changes to your workforce
When will these changes come into force?
They come into force by the 18th February 2026, enabling employees who become newly eligible to provide sufficient notice to take Paternity Leave and Unpaid Parental Leave from the 6th April 2026.
Does this give a ‘day one’ right to Paternity Pay too?
Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) will remain conditional on having 26 weeks of prior service with an employer, in line with other statutory parental payments.
PAYadvice.UK 18/2/2026 updated
Great to see the move to day-one rights for paternity and unpaid parental leave making it easier for new parents and employers to plan ahead from April 6 2026 – an important step in supporting work–life balance and retention.