New rules for new parents
The new additional statutory paternity pay (ASPP) and leave is available for parents of babies due or matched for adoption on or after 3 April 2011. The aim is to allow both parents to share the 39 weeks paid maternity/adoption leave, and the 13 weeks unpaid leave which can be claimed by the new mother or the primary adopter.
The old statutory paternity pay is renamed ‘ordinary statutory paternity pay’ (OSPP). This can be paid for one or two weeks within 56 days of the birth or adoption placement.
The new ASPP can only be paid between the time the child is 20 to 52 weeks old, and the mother has returned to work. The additional paternity leave can last for up to 26 weeks, but the paid part of that leave (ASPP) may only extend up to 19 weeks (i.e. 39 weeks minus 20 weeks).
The ASPP is the surplus statutory maternity pay (SMP) the mother has not taken, or the equivalent statutory adoption pay (SAP). But the mother must have taken at least two weeks off work after the birth, or have at least two weeks of SMP remaining for ASPP to be paid. Special rules apply if the mother or the child dies.
For both OSPP and ASPP the employee must:
Give the employer at least eight weeks’ notice of the date the leave is to begin;
Be employed for at least 26 continuous weeks up to the 15th week before the child is due or matched for adoption; and
Have average weekly earnings of at least the national insurance lower earnings limit (£102 per week for 2011/12).
HM Revenue & Customs has produced standard forms to claim the ASPP in the case of births (SC7), UK adoptions (SC8), and overseas adoptions (SC9). These claim forms include declarations for the mother or primary adopter to sign.
The ASPP is paid at the lower of 90% the employee’s average weekly earnings and a flat rate (£128.73 a week in 2011/12). It is subject to national insurance, just like normal pay. Employers can reclaim 92% of the ASPP, or 104.5% of the ASPP if the employer’s annual class 1 NIC liability (employers and employees) is no more than £45,000.