Employment law insights
Family friendly rights reforms in place from April 2026
Paternity leave - day one right
Currently, employees need to be employed for 26 weeks' continuous service to qualify for statutory paternity leave. From 6 April 2026, that requirement disappears, and paternity leave becomes a day 1 right. This aligns with rights to maternity leave.
However, the service requirement of 26 weeks’ continuous service to qualify for statutory paternity pay, remains in place. Therefore, whilst new employees can commence paternity leave in the first 26 weeks of their employment, unless the company’s policy says otherwise, or the company exercises its discretion, this would be unpaid leave.
At present, employees lose any entitlement to statutory paternity leave and pay if they take shared parental leave and pay before exhausting their paternity leave. From April 2026, Employees can take paid paternity leave even after a period of shared parental leave.
Unpaid parental leave - day one right
Employees are entitled to unpaid parental leave of up to 18 weeks of unpaid leave per child (up to when their child turns 18 years old). Parents can take a maximum of 4 weeks unpaid leave per year per child (unless the company agrees to a longer period).
To be eligible to take unpaid parental leave, employees currently need a years’ service.
From 6 April 2026, that qualifying period is removed. New employees will get access to their parental leave entitlement from day one of employment.
In practice, however, uptake of parental leave has historically been low, and, given that it is unpaid, that is not expected to change drastically; employers just need to be aware if such leave is requested.