Why offer enhanced paternity pay?
Same basic statutory rights. Although some aspects of the paternity leave rules are changing for employed parents of children whose expected week of birth begins after 6 April 2024, the overall paternity leave and pay entitlement (two weeks at statutory paternity pay (SPP) rates) remains the same. The weekly rate of SPP is increasing from £172.48 to £184.03 (or, if lower, 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings) from 7 April 2024, but that’s just the annual increase that happens every April.
Charity campaign. A survey by parent charity Pregnant Then Screwed (PTS) has found that 70% of those who didn’t take their full paternity leave allowance didn’t do so because they couldn’t afford to; many opted to take annual leave instead. Most other European countries have more generous statutory paternity leave and pay policies than the UK and so PTS is campaigning for paternity leave to increase to six weeks and SPP to be 90% of pay. However, it’s unlikely this will happen under the current government as it’s not an existing policy proposal. Should there be a change of government later in 2024, Labour’s “New Deal for Working People” states that it’s “committed to extending paternity leave” , but no further detail is given on what it would propose here.
Enhanced rights. Some employers, mostly larger ones, offer enhanced paternity entitlements as a contractual right, whether that’s more time off work or topped-up pay. You don’t have to do this, but it can assist with staff recruitment and retention and help you to stay ahead of your competitors, particularly if you’re experiencing talent shortages. Tip. If you decide to offer enhanced paternity pay by topping up SPP, provide that the top-up is a loan which is repayable should the employee resign within, say, six months of returning to work after paternity leave (see The next step ). This ensures you don’t pay the employee unnecessarily if they will leave soon.
For enhanced paternity pay wording, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 26, issue 7.
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