Statutory Paternity Pay Calculator

SPP is £194.32 a week, or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings if that is lower. It covers one or two weeks of leave, so the maximum statutory amount for two weeks is £388.64.

The employee must be the father, the mother’s or adopter’s spouse or partner, the child’s adopter, or the intended parent in a surrogacy arrangement. They must also have been continuously employed for at least 26 weeks by the end of the qualifying week, still be employed on the date of birth, and earn at least £129 a week on average in the relevant period.

The 15th week, Sunday to Saturday, before the week the baby is due. It sets the 26-week employment test and the end of the relevant period used for average weekly earnings. For adoption, the equivalent date is the week the employee was matched with the child.

Leave cannot start before the birth. It can begin on the day of birth, a set number of days after, or a chosen date after the birth, and it must finish within 52 weeks of the birth or the due date if the baby arrives early.

Yes. Since April 2024 the two weeks can be taken as two separate blocks of one week rather than a single fortnight, and they can be taken at any point in the 52 weeks after the birth, with 28 days’ notice of each block.

It ends on the last normal payday on or before the Saturday of the qualifying week, and starts the day after the last normal payday falling at least 8 weeks before that. Weekly paid: divide the earnings by 8. Monthly paid: divide by 2, multiply by 12, divide by 52. Do not round the result.

Give them form SPP1 within 28 days explaining why. Paternity leave is a day-one right, so an employee who fails the 26-week test or the £129 earnings test can still take the time off, just without statutory pay.

Yes. Most employers reclaim 92% of the SPP they pay. Employers whose total Class 1 National Insurance for the previous tax year was £45,000 or less qualify for Small Employers’ Relief and reclaim 109%, claimed through the Employer Payment Summary.