02/02/2024

At the start of January 2024, The Draft Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024 were published. These Regulations and will amend the right to paternity leave in relation to requirements in two main ways namely:

• When paternity leave must be taken: it extends period it must be taken from 56 days to 52 weeks after the birth or
• How it can be taken: parents can now choose to take either 2 non-consecutive weeks’ paternity leave or a single period of either one week or two weeks instead of one block.

The Regulations are expected to come into force on 8 March 2024 and proposed to take effect in relation to children whose Expected Week of Childbirth (EWC) or expected date of placement is on or after 6 April 2024.

Of course these Regulations only applies to Great Britain. Hopefully with the positive news about Stormont, we will now begin to see new rights and laws being considered for Northern Ireland and hopefully the current divergence between Northern Ireland and Great Britain will be narrowed. Certainly many employment related laws in Northern Ireland have not been reviewed for a significant period to consider if they are actually fit for purpose.