UK Amends Paternity Leave Eligibility

Amendments to the UK’s paternity leave entitlement that received assent May 24 remove the normal continuous-service requirement in situations where the birth or adoptive mother dies.

The Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 removes in those situations the requirement that an employee must have worked for the same employer continuously for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth or by the end of the week of notice of an adoption match. In comparison, maternity and adoption leave do not have a continuous-service requirement.

The act applies to England, Scotland, and Wales, but not Northern Ireland because employment law is devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which would have to enact an equivalent measure, the act’s explanatory note said. The act’s effective date must be determined by a statutory instrument.