Remove the 26-week rule & allow fathers to take paternity leave immediately.

34
signatures
closedDepartment for Work and PensionsOpened 11 April 2025Closed 11 October 2025

Background

As it stands, prospective fathers are only eligible for statutory paternity leave if they have been employed for 26 weeks by the "qualifying week", which may prevent job changes during pregnancy. I call on the Government to remove the restrictions around qualifying for Statutory Paternity Leave.

Additional details

Many individuals change jobs throughout the course of their lives. Having paid our appropriate contributions through our salaries, prospective fathers are currently ineligible for Statutory Paternity Leave or Pay for two weeks because we have not been with a new employer long enough. Given our contributions, I believe this is unfair against the father and I call for this to change.

Where it’s popular

Constituencies with the most signatures on this petition.

Source: UK Government & Parliament Petitions service. Petition ID: 721099.