New fathers are entitled to two weeks' Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), with a right to a further 13 weeks of unpaid leave. In order to qualify the employee must have been in continuous employment (with the same employer) for at least 26 weeks prior to the 'notification week' (NW). The 'notification week' is 15 weeks before the Expected Week of Confinement (EWC) or baby's due date.

Paternity leave must be taken within a period of 56 days, beginning with the date on which the child is born, or, in the case of adoption, on the date on which adoption is approved. SPP is paid either at the statutory rate or 90% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is the lowest. For the current rate of SPP, please refer to the rates and thresholds page. If the nanny qualifies for Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) it is their employer's legal obligation to pay it.

Following paternity leave a nanny has a right to return to work on the same terms as he was previously employed. If the nanny is not returning to work with their employer then, assuming the employer uses Nannytax, we will send him a P45 on the employer's behalf at the end of his period of SPP.

An employer can recover 104.5% of the cost from the state - i.e. 100% of their employee's gross wage plus 4.5% of gross income to cover the Employer's NI Contribution. This can be claimed in advance as a lump sum, and Nannytax will claim this for an employer. The nanny should provide their employer with an SC3 form for this purpose. Please contact Nannytax to obtain a copy of the form. On receipt of this we will apply for the SPP rebate on the employer's behalf. We will also issue payslips for the nanny throughout the period of his paternity leave, showing SPP paid.

SPP and paternity leave are available not only to the baby's biological father, but also to a partner/husband that is not the baby's biological father and a female partner in a same sex couple.