PETITIONClosedPetition · petition.parliament.uk
Remove the 26-week rule & allow fathers to take paternity leave immediately.
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.
Last fetched 03 May 2026 · petition.parliament.uk
Signatures
34
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 34/10,000
Debate threshold (100,000) · 34/100,000
Background
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.