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Eligible employees can take Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave if the mother, main adopter or main intended parent of their child dies.

The ‘main adopter’ or ‘main intended parent’ would have been the person in an adoptive couple or surrogacy arrangement taking Adoption Leave.

Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave does not include statutory pay. You may choose to offer contractual pay but it cannot be reclaimed.

Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave

The employee’s child must either:

• be less than a year old
• have been in their care for less than a year

Leave can start from the day after the mother, main adopter or main intended parent dies.

Leave must end within 52 weeks of the date the employee’s child:

• was born, if ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð the child’s father - or the spouse or partner of the mother or main intended parent in a surrogacy arrangement
• was placed with them, if the child was adopted
• first arrived in England, Scotland or Wales, if the child was adopted from overseas

Your employee must take leave in one continuous block.

If the death was less than 14 days before the child’s first birthday or anniversary of adoption  

An employee can take up to 2 weeks of leave if the mother, main adopter or main intended parent of their child died less than 14 days before:

• their child’s first birthday
• the first anniversary of the placement date, if ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð an adoptive parent
• the first anniversary of the date their child arrived in England, Scotland or Wales, if they adopted from overseas

The leave must end within 14 days of the death.

Taking Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave with other types of leave

Employees can take Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave before or after any other statutory parental leave ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð entitled to, such as:

• Paternity Pay and Leave
• Shared Parental Leave and Pay
• Neonatal Care Pay and Leave

This includes if the statutory leave is for another child.

If the employee is on another type of statutory leave when the death happens, Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave can be taken after the other statutory leave has ended.

Employees can also take Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave between 2 blocks of another parental leave - for example, between 2 blocks of Shared Parental Leave.

If their child dies while ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð on leave

The leave must end within 8 weeks, starting from the Sunday after their child’s death.

They may be eligible to take Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay and Leave after their Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave ends.

If their adopted child is no longer in their care

The leave must end within 8 weeks, starting from the Sunday after their child was no longer in their care.

Employment rights

An employee’s rights (like the right to pay rises, holidays and returning to a job) are protected during Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave.

Eligible employees can take Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave if the mother, main adopter or main intended parent of their child dies.

The ‘main adopter’ or ‘main intended parent’ would have been the person in an adoptive couple or surrogacy arrangement taking Adoption Leave.

It does not matter how long an employee has worked for you, how many hours they work or how much they are paid.

Eligibility criteria

Employees must be one of the following:

• child’s father
• spouse or partner of the mother or adoptive parent
• spouse or partner of the intended parent (if they’ve had their child with the help of a surrogate parent)

Employees qualify if all of these apply:

• the mother, main adopter or main intended parent died on or after 6 April 2026
• the child is less than a year old - or if ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð adopted, was placed with the employee (or first arrived in England, Scotland or Wales) less than a year ago
• they have the main caring responsibility for the child
• ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð taking the leave to care for the child
• ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð classed as an employee in England, Scotland or Wales

If the employee had the child with the help of a surrogate parent

The employee must have applied or intend to apply for a parental order within 6 months of the child’s birth.

Employees need to give you notice before they take Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave.

How much notice they need to give depends on when they want to take leave.

What an employee needs to tell you

When an employee gives you notice, they need to tell you:

• the date that the mother, main adopter or main intended parent of their child died
• the date they want the leave to start
• their child’s date of birth - or if ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð adopted, their placement date or the date they first arrived in England, Scotland or Wales

If they start leave in the first 8 weeks after the death

Employees must give you notice before ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð due to start work on the first day of leave.

They can give you notice informally, for example in person or by phone, text message or email.

You cannot ask for notice in writing.

An employee does not have to give you a return date until the end of the first 8 weeks after the death.

If they want to return to work in the first 8 weeks

The employee needs to give you a week’s notice in writing.

If they want to take more leave

If the employee wants to take additional leave more than 8 weeks after the death, they must:

• tell you how much leave they want to take
• confirm that the leave is to care for their child and that they meet the eligibility criteria

They must do this by the end of the first 8 weeks in writing, for example, by email or text.

If they start leave more than 8 weeks after the death

Employees must give at least one week’s notice before the first day of their leave.

They must also:

• tell you the start date and how much leave they want
• confirm that the leave is to care for their child and that they meet the eligibility criteria

They must do this in writing, for example, by email or text.

Employees can cancel or change leave if they give you the correct notice.

Cancelling leave

Employees must let you know ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð cancelling leave in writing, for example by email or text message.

If they were due to start leave in the first 8 weeks after the death

An employee must let you know before the first day of planned leave.

If they were due to start more than 8 weeks after the death

An employee must let you know at least one week before the start of the planned leave.

Changing a return date

Employees must let you know that ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð changing their return date in writing, for example by email or text message.

If ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð due to return to work in the first 8 weeks after the death

If an employee wants to come back sooner or later, they’ll need to give you a week’s notice.

If the new date is more than 8 weeks after the death, they must confirm that:

• the leave is to care for their child
• they meet the eligibility criteria

If ³Ù³ó±ð²â’r±ð due to return to work more than 8 weeks after the death

If an employee wants to come back sooner or later, they’ll need to give you 8 weeks’ notice.