Buddy says:  Fathers are currently entitled to take two weeks' statutory paternity leave(or SPL) within the first eight weeks following birth and to receive statutory paternity pay (or SPP).

The Work and Families Act 2006 aims to deliver Government commitments outlined in the "Choice for parents, the best start for children: a ten year childcare strategy" paper - December 2004, which sets out the Governments Response to the consultation regarding work and families.

A number of the provisions of the Act came into force in October 2006 and April 2007. However, the new right for fathers to take Additional Paternity Leave (APL) and Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (ASPP) has not yet been implemented. This would enable fathers to take up to 26 weeks' leave (some of which will be paid) if the mother returns to work after six months, but before the end of her maternity leave period.

Additional Information:

The Government has now published a consultation paper on the administration of APL and ASPP.  The purpose of the consultation is to invite practical comments on the preferred administration process and some of the remaining detail of the scheme to "ensure that burdens on business are minimised, whilst providing more choice for parents and allowing fathers a greater opportunity to be involved in raising a child".

The DTI is proposing that:

• To qualify for APL and ASPP, fathers must have 26 weeks' continuous employment, ending with the 15th week before the EWC.
• The father and the mother should self-certify to the father's employer that the father is eligible for APL and ASPP (namely, that the mother is returning to work early and passing her maternity entitlements over to the father). There would be no need for the mother's employer or HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to be involved in the process. However HMRC will carry out occasional random checks to detect and prevent fraud.
• APL will be in addition to the current entitlement to two weeks' paternity leave (which will be renamed Ordinary Paternity Leave (OPL)) and may be taken in a single block of between two and 26 weeks.
• The father will be required to give eight weeks' notice of his intention to take APL.
• ASSP will be payable for the whole of the APL and will be calculated on the same basis as statutory paternity pay.
• Fathers on APL will be entitled to ten KIT days.
• Where there is a change of circumstance that could affect entitlement to APL and ASPP and it is genuinely not reasonably practicable to cope with a late change, the employer should be able to require an employee to take the period of APL for which they had previously given notice, potentially without ASPP.

Although the term "father" is used throughout the consultation paper, APL and ASPP will also be available to partners (of either sex) of mothers and members of adopting couples who are employed and who qualify for statutory adoption leave and pay.