Day One Family Rights From April 2026

From April 2026, fathers and partners won't need six months of service before they can take paternity leave. Other family leave reforms are happening in April too. Our article explains what's changing and what employers need to do.

The Labour party came into government promising day one parental rights and a more family friendly workplace. Reforms start to get underway from April this year, as we explain below.

Paternity leave becomes a day one right

Currently, employees need 26 weeks' continuous service by the end of the 15th week before the expected birth week to qualify for paternity leave. For babies due on or after 5 April 2026, that requirement disappears. New starters will get the same two weeks' paternity leave entitlement as everyone else. This brings paternity leave in line with maternity leave, which is already a day one right.

The service requirement for statutory paternity pay, however, remains in place. New employees can take paternity leave, but unless your company policy says otherwise, the leave would be unpaid. The government wants to make sure all employees are covered by a baseline of rights, but has so far been reluctant to put extra pay costs onto employers.

Notice rules haven't changed either. Employees still need to give notice of entitlement by the 15th week before the expected week of birth, then confirm their choice of specific dates 28 days in advance. New joiners who can't meet these deadlines must give as much notice as is reasonably practicable.

A fix for a shared parental leave anomaly

Previously, taking shared parental leave first meant forfeiting paternity leave altogether (which was always a rather odd penalty for trying to share caring responsibilities). The new legislation corrects this. Employees can now take paternity leave and pay even after a period of shared parental leave.

Unpaid parental leave is also a day one right

Unpaid parental leave currently requires a year's service. From 6 April 2026, that qualifying period will also disappear. New employees will get access to their parental leave entitlement from day one of employment. In practice, however, uptake of parental leave has historically been low, and that is not expected to change.

Extended leave for bereaved partners

Separate legislation introduces a new category of extended paternity leave for parents whose partner dies during childbirth or within a year of the birth. This is called Bereaved Partner's Paternity Leave.

The numbers impacted are mercifully small, but this change plugs a gap in the current legal framework. Under the new law, a bereaved partner can take up to 52 weeks' leave in one block. There's no service requirement. If leave starts within eight weeks of the bereavement, employees can start leave immediately on oral notice. Pay is at the employer's discretion, as there's no statutory entitlement.

Are bigger changes on the way?

Last summer, the government launched a call for evidence on parental leave and pay. That review will eventually feed into a broader overhaul of Great Britain's tangled family leave system.

Some employers aren't waiting. We've seen a growing appetite for policies that go beyond the rigid, gendered statutory framework (at Lewis Silkin, for example, we offer up to one year's leave and six months' pay for new parents, regardless of gender).

What employers should do now

Update your policies. You will want to update your policies to reflect the changes. You can remove service requirements for paternity and parental leave now if you prefer, rather than waiting for April.

Decide on enhanced pay. If you offer more than statutory pay, will new employees be eligible straightaway? Or will you maintain a service threshold?

Address rights for bereaved partners. Consider adding a note to your paternity leave or compassionate leave policy to explain the new right to Bereaved Partners Paternity Leave. The rules are technical, so you could keep the policy brief and provide specific details if the situation arises, or you could decide to include more detail so that managers, HR teams and employees can see all the rules.

Brief your managers. They may need to know about the new entitlements.

Make policies visible. New joiners might take leave soon after starting. Ideally, share your family leave policies before employment begins and encourage early notice.

Check your payroll and HR systems. Can you process requests from employees who've only just started?

Think about probation. How will more employees taking family leave early in their employment affect your ability to assess their performance? This will matter more from 1 January 2027, when the unfair dismissal qualifying period drops to six months. This means a very short window in which to assess an employee's performance and suitability for the role before the employee qualifies for the right not to be unfairly dismissed (with uncapped compensation, under the current plans). Probation management processes will need to become more robust, but managers will also need to understand that taking family leave in this window is allowed and that employees must not be penalised for it – but nor will it pause the clock on the unfair dismissal qualifying period.

Ultimately, these April changes are relatively modest. In our experience, these changes have generally been welcomed by employers, but are equally expected to have relatively limited impact. However, they signal a direction of travel towards a more modern family friendly legislative framework. Employers should keep their policies under regular review.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.