Topping up statutory paternity leave
We’re expecting our second child in January 2027 and I’ve just properly read through my company’s paternity leave policy.
As far as I can tell, I’m entitled to two weeks’ paternity leave, but I’d only receive statutory paternity pay, so less than £200 a week. That’s a pretty significant drop from my normal salary and enough so that it could make the first couple of months after baby's birth problematic from a cash perspective. (We do have savings, but those savings are going towards my other half having several months at very low maternity pay or none at all towards the end of her maternity leave. )
I’d wondered whether I could use some of my annual leave to top this up, but everything I’m finding online suggests that isn’t possible. I could obviously take annual leave instead, but I’d ideally like to actually take the two weeks’ paternity leave I’m entitled to without taking such a big financial hit.
For context, I earn £50k (£62k pro rata'd) and work four days a week. I look after our first child on the fifth day.
When our first child was born, the company policy was actually four weeks’ fully paid paternity leave. The four weeks was effectively a mistake made by a previous administrator, but I’d understood that the policy had then been changed to two weeks’ fully paid leave.
It’s only now, having checked the actual policy, that I’ve realised it looks like it’s just statutory pay.
I’m senior in the business and I’m going to raise it with the rest of the senior leadership team to understand what the position is and whether there’s any flexibility.
Before I do, though, I’m trying to understand what my options actually are.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Can annual leave be used alongside paternity leave in some way, or is it basically a choice between taking paternity leave on statutory pay and using annual leave instead?