Statutory Paternity Pay is paid at £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to 2 weeks [1]. The employee must tell the employer about the baby's due date at least 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth, and that notice has traditionally travelled on HMRC form SC3 [2] [3].
The SC3, titled "Statutory Paternity Pay and Leave: becoming a birth parent", is the document a birth parent's partner uses to apply to the employer for paternity leave and pay [3]. GOV.UK now describes an online form, "previously called form SC3", which the employee completes, prints or downloads, and hands to the employer [2]. The name has outlived the paper version, and employees, managers and payroll teams still search for it by that label.
For an employer, the form is the trigger for a chain of payroll obligations: an eligibility decision, a start date to confirm, a statutory payment to process through PAYE, a refusal form if the employee does not qualify, records to keep for 3 years, and a recovery claim to HMRC [4] [5]. Each step has a deadline, and most of them are counted back from a single date: the expected week of childbirth.
This guide explains what the SC3 is and what replaced it, the notice periods that apply, how the qualifying week is calculated, the eligibility checks the employer must run on receipt, how much to pay, how to refuse correctly, and how the cost is recovered. Adoption and surrogacy claims follow parallel routes and are covered briefly at the end.
Key takeaways
- Form SC3 is the birth parent's application for paternity leave and pay; GOV.UK now provides an online version "previously called form SC3" [2].
- An employer may use its own form instead, and the employee should use that form where one exists [2].
- Paternity Leave has been a day-one right since 6 April 2026, but Statutory Paternity Pay still requires 26 weeks' continuous employment and earnings of at least £129 a week [6] [7].
- The employee must give the due date at least 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth, and the leave start date at least 28 days before the leave begins [8].
- An employer refusing SPP must issue form SPP1 within 28 days of the pay request [9].
- Employers reclaim 92% of SPP paid, or 109% under Small Employers' Relief, through the Employer Payment Summary [10].
What the SC3 form is and what replaced it
The SC3 is an HMRC form for employees who "become a birth parent and need to apply to [their] employer for Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) and Leave" [3]. It is not sent to HMRC. It goes from the employee to the employer, and the employer keeps it with the payroll records that support the payment.
The publication page still exists, but it points employees to a fill-online service hosted on the HMRC tax service domain [3] [11]. The employee must complete the form fully before it can be printed, and a partly completed form cannot be saved [3]. The employer guidance states that employees can ask for leave and pay in writing using the online form, and that this "replaces form SC3" [8].
What information the form carries
The online form collects the three facts the law requires the employee to give: the baby's due date, the date the employee wants leave to start, and whether the employee wants 1 or 2 weeks [2] [8]. It also asks the employee to confirm the conditions of entitlement, which mirror the eligibility tests the employer applies, such as responsibility for the child's upbringing and taking the time off to care for the child or support the partner [6].
The employee does not need to provide proof of the pregnancy or the birth [2]. This differs from maternity pay, where a MATB1 certificate is part of the evidence chain (see the Moonworkers guide to the SMP1 form for the refusal side of that process). For paternity, the signed declaration is the evidence.
Can an employer use its own form?
Yes. GOV.UK tells employees to check whether the employer has its own form and, if it does, to use that instead [2]. The notice does not have to be in writing at all unless the employer asks for it in writing [8].
In practice, most employers with an HR system build the SC3 fields into a leave request workflow. The key design point is that the request must capture the same data items as the HMRC form, with a dated declaration, because the employer may later need to show HMRC why a payment was made [5]. A free-text email that omits the due date or the number of weeks leaves the payroll team guessing.
| Route | Who provides it | Data captured | Suitable for |
|---|---|---|---|
| HMRC online form (formerly SC3) | HMRC fill-online service | Due date, leave start, 1 or 2 weeks, declarations | Employers with no internal process |
| Employer's own form | The employer | Same items, plus any internal fields | Employers with an HR policy or system |
| Verbal or informal notice | The employee | Whatever is said | Valid only if the employer has not requested writing |
The table summarises the three routes GOV.UK accepts [2] [8].
The notice deadlines an employer must track
Paternity notices run on two separate clocks: one tied to the pregnancy, one tied to the leave itself. Mixing them up is the most common cause of disputes over whether notice was given in time.
The 15-week due date notice
The employee must tell the employer the due date "at least 15 weeks before the baby is expected" [8]. The same deadline applies to the pay claim: employees must claim Paternity Pay at least 15 weeks before the week the baby is expected [8] [2].
That 15th week before the expected week of childbirth is also the "qualifying week" used for the pay eligibility tests [6]. The expected week of childbirth begins on a Sunday, so the qualifying week runs from a Sunday to a Saturday 15 weeks earlier.
The 28-day leave notice
At least 28 days before the leave starts, the employee must confirm when the leave will begin and whether it will last 1 or 2 weeks [2]. If the employee wants to change the start date, 28 days' notice of the change is required [12] [13].
Where the employee gives late notice without a reasonable excuse, the employer can delay the leave or pay start date. To do so, the employer must write to the employee within 28 days of the leave request [8]. The employer cannot simply refuse the leave because the notice was late.
The transitional rule that has now expired
When Paternity Leave became a day-one right, newly eligible employees faced an impossible deadline: someone joining an employer weeks before a birth could not have given 15 weeks' notice. GOV.UK set a temporary rule for babies due between 5 April 2026 and 25 July 2026, under which employees with less than 26 weeks' service at the qualifying week did not need to give the 15-week notice, only the 28-day notice [8] [7].
For babies due on or after 26 July 2026, both the usual notice periods apply [8]. Employers that adapted their forms for the transitional window should check that the standard 15-week rule has been restored in their workflow.
| Notice | Deadline | Content | Consequence of lateness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Due date and pay claim | 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth | Due date, intention to take leave and claim SPP | Employer may delay the start if no reasonable excuse |
| Leave start and length | 28 days before leave starts | Start date, 1 or 2 weeks | Employer may delay the start if no reasonable excuse |
| Change of start date | 28 days before the new start date | Revised date | Change may not take effect on the requested date |
The deadlines above are drawn from the employer and employee guidance on GOV.UK [8] [12].
Checking eligibility when the SC3 arrives
Receiving a completed SC3 or its online replacement does not mean the employee automatically qualifies for pay. Leave and pay have separate tests, and the payroll team must run the pay tests itself.
The leave tests
Since 6 April 2026, Paternity Leave is a day-one right: employees are eligible "from their first day of employment" [6] [7]. The employee must be classed as an employee (not a worker or contractor), must be the father, the husband or partner of the mother or adopter, the child's adopter, or an intended parent in a surrogacy arrangement, and must be taking time off to look after the child or support the partner [6].
The leave entitlement is up to 2 weeks, taken together or as two separate one-week blocks [12]. A week of leave equals the number of days the employee normally works in a week, so a three-day-a-week employee takes three days per week of leave [12]. The entitlement does not double for twins [12].
The pay tests
Statutory Paternity Pay carries three additional conditions [6]:
- Continuous service. At least 26 weeks' continuous employment with the employer up to any day in the qualifying week.
- Earnings. Being on the payroll and earning at least £129 a week gross, on average, over an 8-week "relevant period".
- Employment at the birth. Still being employed by the employer up to the date the child is born.
The £129 figure matches the Lower Earnings Limit for Class 1 National Insurance in the 2026-27 tax year, which is £129 a week, £559 a month or £6,708 a year [1]. If the baby arrives early, the employee still qualifies for pay if the 26 weeks would have been met by the qualifying week [6].
A worked qualifying week
Take a baby due on Wednesday 10 March 2027. The expected week of childbirth starts on Sunday 7 March 2027. Counting back 15 weeks, the qualifying week runs from Sunday 22 November 2026 to Saturday 28 November 2026 [6].
The employee must have given the due date notice by the start of that period at the latest, which in this example means by 22 November 2026 [8]. For pay, the employee must have 26 weeks' continuous service at some point in the qualifying week, so in broad terms an employee who joined in late May 2026 or earlier meets the service test. Someone who joined in September 2026 is entitled to the 2 weeks' leave from day one but not to SPP, and the employer must issue an SPP1 [9].
| Scenario | Leave | SPP | Employer action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joined 5 years ago, earns £600 a week | Yes | Yes, £194.32 a week | Pay through payroll, reclaim via EPS |
| Joined 2 months before the qualifying week | Yes | No (service test failed) | Grant leave, issue SPP1 |
| Long service, earns £110 a week | Yes | No (earnings below £129) | Grant leave, issue SPP1 |
| Self-employed contractor | No | No | No statutory duty |
Each line in the table applies the GOV.UK eligibility tests [6] [1].
Payroll software that calculates the qualifying week and the 8-week average automatically removes most of the manual date-counting. Moonworkers' SME payroll platform derives both from the due date on the request, so the eligibility decision rests on the same data the payslip uses.
How much Statutory Paternity Pay to pay
Once eligibility is confirmed, the amount is simple. SPP is £194.32 a week or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower [13] [1]. Unlike Statutory Maternity Pay, there is no initial six-week period at 90% of earnings without a cap.
Worked examples
Two employees illustrate the rule. The first earns an average of £600 a week: 90% of that is £540, which is above the flat rate, so the employee receives £194.32 a week, or £388.64 for 2 weeks [13]. The second earns £200 a week: 90% is £180, which is below the flat rate, so the employee receives £180 a week, or £360 for 2 weeks [1].
| Average weekly earnings | 90% of AWE | Weekly SPP | SPP for 2 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| £600 | £540.00 | £194.32 | £388.64 |
| £216 | £194.40 | £194.32 | £388.64 |
| £200 | £180.00 | £180.00 | £360.00 |
| £128 | n/a | £0 (below £129) | £0 |
The figures apply the 2026-27 rate and Lower Earnings Limit [1] [6].
Tax, National Insurance and contractual schemes
SPP is treated as pay: income tax and National Insurance must be deducted [4]. It is reported on the Full Payment Submission in the period it is paid. The employer must confirm the start and end dates of SPP when the employee claims it [13].
Many employers pay enhanced paternity pay under a contractual scheme. The contractual amount can be higher than SPP but cannot be lower than the statutory amounts [13]. Only the statutory element is recoverable from HMRC, even when the employer pays more [4].
When leave can be taken
Leave cannot start before the birth. It can start on the actual date of birth, a set number of days after the birth, or a specific date after the birth, and it must end within 52 weeks of the birth, or of the due date if the baby is early [12]. Since 6 April 2026, Paternity Leave and Pay can also be taken after Shared Parental Leave and Pay, which was previously not allowed [7].
That flexibility matters for payroll scheduling: a single SC3 can now produce two separate one-week payments months apart, potentially after a period of shared parental leave [12]. The payroll record needs to hold both blocks and the 52-week end date. The full rules on rates and the newer bereaved partner's leave are set out in the Moonworkers guide to Statutory Paternity Pay.
Refusing pay with form SPP1
An employer can refuse SPP if the employee does not qualify [9]. The refusal has its own paperwork: the employer must send form SPP1 within 28 days of the pay request and keep a copy [9].
What the employee can ask for
The employee can ask for a written statement explaining the decision, and the employer must provide it within a reasonable time, which GOV.UK illustrates as 7 working days [9]. Refusing pay does not affect the leave entitlement: an employee who fails the service or earnings test still has the day-one right to 2 weeks' unpaid Paternity Leave [6].
The most frequent refusal triggers are the service test for recent joiners and the earnings test for part-time or variable-hours staff. Because the leave right now starts on day one, the number of SC3 requests from employees who qualify for leave but not for pay is likely to grow, and so is the number of SPP1 forms employers need to issue [7].
What happens if the employer stops trading
SPP remains payable even if the employer stops trading [4]. An insolvency does not cancel the statutory entitlement, so the payroll record should show whether every week due was paid.
Records the employer must keep
The SC3 or its replacement is the starting document of the payroll record, not the end of it. HMRC requires the employer to keep records showing the date SPP started, the payments made with dates, the amounts reclaimed, any weeks not paid and why, and for adoptions a letter from the adoption agency or a matching certificate [5].
Records must be kept for 3 years from the end of the tax year they relate to [5]. HMRC offers form SPP2 as an optional record sheet, but the employer's own payroll records are acceptable [5].
| Record | Example | Kept for |
|---|---|---|
| The employee's application | Completed SC3 or employer form, dated | 3 years after the tax year end |
| SPP start date and payments | Two weekly payments of £194.32 with dates | 3 years after the tax year end |
| Amounts reclaimed | EPS entries for the month | 3 years after the tax year end |
| Weeks not paid and reason | Week not paid because employee was working | 3 years after the tax year end |
The categories follow the HMRC record-keeping guidance [5].
Accountants running payroll for several clients face the same obligations multiplied across schemes. A multi-client payroll dashboard that stores the application, the payments and the EPS claim against each client employer turns a three-year retention rule into a search rather than a filing exercise.
Recovering SPP from HMRC
SPP is one of the statutory payments an employer can recover. Employers can usually reclaim 92% of SPP paid, or 109% if the business qualifies for Small Employers' Relief [10].
Small Employers' Relief
An employer qualifies for Small Employers' Relief if it paid £45,000 or less in Class 1 National Insurance, ignoring reductions such as Employment Allowance, in the last complete tax year before the qualifying week [10]. The 2026-27 rates guidance describes the test as total Class 1 contributions, employee and employer combined, for the previous tax year [1].
Using the first worked example above, an employer paying £388.64 of SPP reclaims £357.55 at 92%, or £423.62 at 109% [10]. The extra 9% compensates small employers for the National Insurance paid on the statutory amount.
| Employer type | Recovery rate | Reclaim on £388.64 of SPP |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 NI above £45,000 in the previous tax year | 92% | £357.55 |
| Class 1 NI of £45,000 or less (Small Employers' Relief) | 109% | £423.62 |
The rates are set out on GOV.UK [10] [1].
Claiming through the EPS
The recovery is claimed on an Employer Payment Summary, and the employer calculates the amount using its payroll software [10]. The default is to set the amount off against the PAYE and National Insurance due to HMRC. Where the set-off is not possible, the employer can write to HMRC to ask for a repayment, but only after the start of the next tax year [10].
HMRC-recognised payroll software generates the EPS entry from the payments already recorded, which avoids a mismatch between the FPS and the reclaim. The mechanics are covered in more depth in the Moonworkers guide to reclaiming statutory pay from HMRC.
Adoption, surrogacy and other routes
The SC3 is specific to birth parents. Employees adopting a child, or becoming parents through a surrogacy arrangement, claim through separate routes that apply the same core rules with different reference dates [6].
For surrogacy, GOV.UK states that employees having a baby through a surrogacy arrangement can use the same online form, which replaces the older dedicated surrogacy form [8]. If the employer asks, the intended parent must provide a written statement confirming an application, or the intention to apply, for a parental order within 6 months of the birth [6].
For adoption, the qualifying week is linked to the matching date rather than the due date, and the employer must keep the agency's letter or matching certificate [5]. Developers building leave modules for HR platforms usually model all three routes as one request type with a parameterised reference date, which is how a UK payroll API exposes them.
A practical checklist for the payroll team
When a completed SC3 or equivalent request arrives, the following sequence keeps the process compliant:
- Date-stamp the request and check it arrived at least 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth [8].
- Calculate the qualifying week by counting back 15 weeks from the Sunday that starts the expected week of childbirth [6].
- Run the pay tests: 26 weeks' service and £129 a week average earnings over the relevant period [6].
- Confirm the leave and pay dates in writing, and log any change notified at least 28 days ahead [13].
- Issue an SPP1 within 28 days if the employee does not qualify for pay [9].
- Pay SPP through payroll with tax and National Insurance deducted, and reclaim it on the EPS [4] [10].
- File the records for 3 years after the end of the tax year [5].
Conclusion
The SC3 form is a small document with an outsized role. It fixes the expected week of childbirth, and from that single date the employer derives the qualifying week, the notice deadlines, the eligibility outcome, the payment window and the recovery claim. The move to an online form and to employer-designed forms has not changed that logic; it has only changed where the data sits.
The day-one leave right has widened the gap between leave and pay. More employees now qualify for 2 weeks off without qualifying for SPP, so the refusal and record-keeping steps carry as much weight as the payment itself. Employers that treat the SC3 as structured payroll data, rather than a letter to file, are best placed as statutory family pay continues to evolve.
Frequently asked questions
Does an employee still have to use form SC3 to claim paternity pay?
No. GOV.UK now provides an online form, previously called form SC3, which the employee completes and then prints or downloads for the employer. If the employer has its own form, the employee should use that instead. The notice does not have to be in writing unless the employer asks for it.
What is the deadline for submitting an SC3 to an employer?
The employee must tell the employer the baby's due date and claim Statutory Paternity Pay at least 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth. The start date and the choice of 1 or 2 weeks must be confirmed at least 28 days before the leave begins. A temporary relaxation for babies due before 26 July 2026 no longer applies.
Can an employer refuse a paternity pay claim made on an SC3?
An employer can refuse Statutory Paternity Pay if the employee fails the tests, such as having less than 26 weeks' service at the qualifying week or average earnings below £129 a week. The refusal must be made on form SPP1 within 28 days of the pay request. The employee still keeps the day-one right to unpaid Paternity Leave.
Does the employer send the SC3 form to HMRC?
No. The SC3 or its online replacement stays with the employer as part of the payroll records, which must be kept for 3 years from the end of the tax year. HMRC only receives the payment details on the Full Payment Submission and the recovery claim on the Employer Payment Summary.
