Paternity pay and leave

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How to claim

You claim Paternity Leave and Pay through your employer. You must give your employer at least 15 weeks’ notice.

You can do this by filling in the online form (previously called form SC3). Once you have completed the form, you will need to download or print it and send it to your employer.

Check if your employer has their own form. If they do, use that instead.

The rules and forms are different if you adopt.

You’ll need to include:

  • the due date
  • when you want your leave to start, for example the day of the birth or the week after the birth
  • if you want 1 or 2 weeks’ leave

You do not need to give proof of the pregnancy or birth.

Use the paternity planner to find out when you need to claim Paternity Leave by.