What you need to know

Ordinary Paternity leave is designed to give Service personnel time to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, and to help support the child’s biological or adoptive mother.

It is important that you have read and understood JSP 760 - Tri-Service Regulations for Leave and Other Types of Absences (chapter 26) before proceeding.

You are entitled to 2 weeks of Paternity Leave, which can be taken consecutively or as 2 separate weeks, provided that all Paternity Leave is taken within 56 days of the child’s birth or placement for adoption.

To claim Paternity Leave, you must be the father of the child, the spouse, civil partner or partner of the mother or adopter, or in the case of a surrogacy arrangement, the intended parent.

Entitlement applies only to an adoption placement through a legally recognised adoption agency. It does not apply if you have arranged a private adoption, become a special guardian or adopted a stepchild.

Paternity Leave is not available in cases where you have already taken any Shared Parental Leave to care for your child. Paternity Leave must be taken before Shared Parental Leave. Neither will you be able to claim this benefit if you take advantage of the Armed Forces Occupational Adoption Leave Scheme.

What you need to do

To apply for Ordinary Paternity Leave (OPL) you will need to forward the following documentation to the Unit HR Admin:

Ordinary paternity birth

Ordinary paternity adoption

Once you have submitted the forms and documentation, the Unit HR Admin will verify the documentation and input child details onto JPA. They will also manage the whereabouts in the intervening period, as well as managing existing leave periods during the leave of OPL and cancel as appropriate.