Paternity pay - Am I missing something?

M0ney

I have recently started a new job and my partner is due to have a baby soon, as a consequence I am not eligible for paternity pay from what I can tell. Can anyone tell me if I'm wrong? And why does it make a difference how long I have been employed by that specific employer. To be honest, I probably wouldn't take the leave anyway because you only get a derisory ~£138/week but it's the principle I don't agree with I have been permanently employed for well over 10 years now and I don't see why it should make a difference if you have recently changed employers...

Mrs_Soup

The derisory 138 quid is what many women get for SMP if its not topped up by their employer.

We had a similar issue as my husband was about to start a new job around the time our second child was born. As a result he delayed his start date by about a week and took his paternity leave (which was paid at full salary by his employer) as his last two weeks of employment there. Employers can pay more as they can with maternity pay but there is almost always going to be a qualifying period for that. Similarly your new employer could allow you the time off as a concession or you can take holiday.

M0ney

I thought that the cost was covered by HMRC but even so if it would only cost my employer £22 (138 * .08 * 2) it seems to me that the problem lies with the government and I think it's unfair to discriminate between someone who's had the same employer for a long time and someone who hasn't. I'd say it kind of undermines the who idea of paternity pay/leave. I had exactly the same problem when my daughter was born so looks like the choice will be made for me again.

M0ney

Anyway I'm aware that it probably seems like I've just come on here to have a moan I did wonder if there was something about the eligibility that I was misinterpreting, so thanks very much for the responses. :-)