Journey Step 2 of 8

Step 2 of 8

Decision point 1. You can write a paternity-only policy, a paternity-plus-adoption policy, or a full paternity-plus-adoption-plus-SPL policy. The statutory floor obliges you to honour all three when an eligible employee invokes them — but a written policy that only covers paternity will leave your line managers improvising when an SPL notice lands.

The April 2024 paternity reform (SI 2024/329) split the two-week entitlement into separable one-week blocks taken any time in the first year, with shorter notice. If your draft policy still says "two consecutive weeks within 56 days of birth", it is already out of date. Write the policy for the regime you will actually have to administer.