April 2026 is going to be a busy month for employers with several changes taking effect as a result of the Employment Rights Act 2025. Amongst them will be those applying to parental and paternity leave rights.
What is changing?
At the moment, employees need to have a minimum amount of service to qualify for paternity leave and unpaid (ordinary) parental leave. To be eligible for paternity leave, an employee needs to have worked for at least 26 weeks for their employer. And in order to be able to take unpaid parental leave, they need to have worked for their employer for at least a year. (There’s more information here about the current requirements for taking parental leave.)
As a result of the Employment Rights Act 2025, from April 2026 employees will be eligible for paternity and unpaid parental leave from day one of employment. It’ll also give employees more flexibility about how they take their leave. At the moment, they can’t take paternity leave after shared parental leave. But from April they can.
From April, employed bereaved fathers and partners will have the right to take extended paternity leave too. If someone tragically loses their partner in the first year of their child’s life, they can take up to 52 weeks’ Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave, up to their child’s first birthday.
What about pay?
The changes currently only relate to leave entitlements, not pay. So unpaid parental leave will continue as unpaid. The rules relating to statutory pay rates remain the same too, with the 26-week qualifying period for paternity pay continuing as it currently is. And notice periods of the intention of take leave remain the same too.
How can you help your employees address the balance of caring responsibilities?
There has been a mixed response about these changes from employers. But research has pointed to the fact that many working parents do find it difficult managing caring responsibilities – both when a child is born/ adopted and then as they grow up. This research released in October last year highlighted that 74% of fathers want to share parenting equally but fear the professional consequences. Over three quarters said their situation has caused strain on their health, or their partner’s or their child’s. It can be a significant source of stress and worry – which can affect employees negatively in all sorts of ways.
So it makes sense to do what you can to support your employees who are dads, so they don’t feel negatively judged because of their parenting responsibilities.
Flexibility
Being as flexible as possible is one of the most valuable things you can do. Flexibility over working patterns for example, such as allowing remote or hybrid working, flexible start and finish times, or compressed hours. And greater ad hoc flexibility to manage demands like nursery/school pick-ups or to attend special events like school plays and sports days is important too.
And that kind of flexibility is vital if a child falls ill. Often the burden of making emergency care arrangements, or changing their own working plans at the last minute, falls onto the mum. But it shouldn’t just be down to them. By making it easier for dads in your business to take time off in these situations, you’ll help make a difficult situation more manageable and take some of the pressure off. And don’t underestimate the positive effect this can have on working relationships.
Open and supportive conversations
Even in this day and age, there are still lots of employers who assume it’s the mother who will take on most of the caring responsibilities. But a father’s desire to take on their fair share of responsibilities should be respected and supported. Encourage managers to have open conversations with employees who are in this situation in their team to come up with solutions together, rather than making them feel uncomfortable and anxious about broaching the subject. Remember a good way to show support towards, and normalise, shared caring responsibilities is having senior people in your own business visibly taking childcare leave and being positive about their experiences.
Getting ready for the paternity leave and parental leave changes
So what should you do now to be ready for April?
- Review and update your policies and procedures and processes for requesting leave to make sure they reflect the fact that leave is now accessible from day one of employment.
- Prepare for possible increases in the number of requests, as potentially more of your employees will be eligible to request these forms of leave.
- Make sure managers are aware of the changes and know how to deal with requests consistently. Ensure they know employees can give notice of their intention to take leave from 18th February 2026 ahead of being newly eligible when the qualifying service requirement ends in April.
- Consider if there’s anything more you can do in your business to actively support fathers with their parental responsibilities.
Could you benefit from expert HR support?
Do you need results-driven, commercially focused HR advice to help you implement the many changes resulting from the Employment Rights Act 2025? If you are concerned about your business meeting all its employment law obligations, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
