香港六合彩

This policy sets out 香港六合彩's entitlements to paternity/partners leave (PL).

Contents

• Purpose and Aim
• Scope
• Definitions
• Policy
• Time off for听Appointments
• Entitlement to Paternity/Partner's听Leave
• Entitlement to Paternity/Partner's听Pay
• Notification Process
• Stillbirths and Miscarriages
• Neonatal Leave
• Return to Work
• Continuity of Employment听
• Monitoring of Policy

Purpose and Scope

1. This policy sets out 香港六合彩's听entitlements to paternity/partners leave (PL).听

2. This policy also sets out the additional provisions and entitlements for fathers and partners whose baby needs neonatal care because they are premature or听have health issues at birth.

3. For further information on other types of leave available for parents, guardians and carers please see the relevant policy A-Z section on the policy page.听

Scope

4. There is no qualifying length of service听to be eligible for PL.听

5. The employee must be:

i) the father of听the child and/or;

ii) the mother's spouse, civil partner or partner and/or;

iii) the partner of the primary adoptive parent

补苍诲听

iv) a 香港六合彩 employee on the date the child is born / placed with them for adoption.

6. To be eligible for paternity/partner's leave, the employee must also have, or expect to have, responsibility for the child's upbringing.

Definitions

Time off for Appointments

7. 香港六合彩 Employees in a 鈥渜ualifying relationship鈥� as above, may take unpaid leave on up to two occasions for a maximum of six-and-a-half hours for each appointment to attend ante-natal classes or parenting classes. Alternatively, they may use annual leave.

8. Where the 香港六合彩 employee needs to accompany their pregnant partner to hospital or antenatal medical听appointments they may request Time off for Dependants听under the Special Leave Policy.

9. Partners of primary adoptive parents are entitled to take unpaid time off听attend up to two adoption appointments, once they are matched with a child.

10. Adoptive parents in a surrogacy arrangement are entitled to unpaid leave to attend up to two antenatal appointments.

11. Employees must endeavour to give as much notice as possible to their line manager for antenatal appointments.

Entitlement to Paternity/Partner's Leave

12. Eligible employees are entitled to take up to 20 days PL (pro-rated for part time employees).

13. In instances of multiple births, the entitlement remains 20 days in total (pro-rated for part time employees).听

14. PL must听be taken within 52 weeks after the date of the birth or adoption (including situations听where the baby is听stillborn beyond 24 weeks of pregnancy). PL does not have to be taken at one time and can be spread, in whole weeks, over this 52-week听period. However, PL must be taken in its entirety, before taking any Shared Parental Leave.

Entitlement to Paternity/Partner's Pay

15. Providing that the correct notification processes have been followed (section 18) and they are a 香港六合彩 employee when their child is born / placed for adoption, all employees taking PL, regardless of length of service, are entitled to full pay during PL. 听

16. This includes the entitlement to statutory paternity pay (SPP) for employees with more than six months service at the Notification Week (15th week before the expected week of childbirth) provided that the AWE are above the for National Insurance contributions.听

17. Payment of Paternity Pay commences simultaneously with the beginning of the PL period and is paid monthly in arrears (in the same way salary is paid).听

Notification Process

18. At least 15 weeks before the EWC (the expected week of childbirth /notification week) the employee must inform their line manager of their partner鈥檚 due date and their eligibilty/intention to take PL.

19. In cases of adoption, the employee must inform their line manager within 7 days of being matched with a child; and

• the date they are matched with the child
• the placement start date

20. The employee must give their Line Manager at least 28 days' notice of the dates on which they would like to take their PL.听Notice requirements will be waived where the baby arrives early or late.

21. The employee should complete the online application form to confirm the dates of PL and provide a copy of the MATB1 form or adoption certificate. Once signed by the Line Manager, the application form听will automatically be sent to HR Services for processing. HR Services will then write to the employee confirming the dates of their Paternity/Partner's Leave

22.听Employees can change their mind about the dates for paternity leave, by giving at least 28 days鈥� notice of the new dates.听Notice requirements will be waived where the baby arrives early or late and听in the event that the dates need to be changed. If the PL dates need to be changed, the employee must听submit a new form and select听amendment听at the start of the form.

23. The employee can contact HR Services if they have a query about eligible dates and entitlements.听Please visit the parental leave toolkit page for useful tools and documents to help you plan your leave.听

24.听In addition to PL, the employee may wish to enter into shared parental leave with their partner. For details on this refer to the Shared Parental Leave Policy.

Stillbirths and Miscarriages听

25. Where an employee鈥檚 partner has a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy or termination听before听24 weeks of pregnancy, there are no entitlements to PL . The employee's partner may however request some time off under the听Special Leave Policy听where appropriate.

26. Where an employee's partner has a stillbirth from 24 weeks of pregnancy onwards, or the baby only survives for a short period of time after birth, full paternity听leave and paternity pay will be retained, irrespective of the timing of the birth.听In addition, they are entitled to take 4 weeks鈥� paid bereavement leave, which can be added to the end of their paternity听leave.听For further details, please read the Special Leave Policy.

27. Employees can access support and counselling via the Employee Assistance Programme.

28. Employees may also wish to access support from various听听

Neonatal Leave

29. 香港六合彩 recognises the emotional and financial difficulties which arise from premature births and situations where a new-born is immediately hospitalised after birth.

30. Employees who are entitled to paternity / partners鈥� leave under this policy will also be entitled to an additional period of leave which can be taken after their entitlement to paternity leave and pay has been exhausted. Neonatal leave will be provided听where the baby is in hospital for at least 7 days following the birth.

31. Employees will be entitled to neonatal leave on full pay, for each day听their baby is in hospital to a maximum of 6 weeks.

32. Neonatal leave must not be taken in conjunction with any other type of parental leave, or annual leave.

33. Employees wishing to take neonatal leave should notify their Line Manager of their intention to take this leave and how many days they would like to take, as soon as reasonably practicable.

34. Neonatal leave is provided in addition to carer鈥檚 leave under the Special Leave Policy.

35. Neonatal leave does not need to be agreed by the Line Manager or HR because it is an automatic entitlement, providing the criteria are met. However, the employee, Line Manager or Departmental Administrator must request/record the period of paid leave for the appropriate number of days/weeks in MyHR as 鈥淧aid Leave鈥�, 鈥淥ther鈥�, in order that the pay can be processed and the employee has not yet returned to work, A comment should be recorded to state the leave is Neonatal leave.

Return to Work

36.听听Employees wishing to take additional periods of leave such as听unpaid parental leave听or听carer's leave听should refer to the relevant policy on the A-Z section of the policy page on the staff听intranet.听

37.听Employees who take Paternity/Partner's听leave may wish to amend their working pattern on their return to work, either on a permanent or temporary basis. Please see the听Flexible Working Policy听for details on how these requests will be handled.听

It is important to note that the process to request flexible working can take up to 8听weeks, therefore as much notice as possible should be given when requesting a change in working hours.

Continuity of Employment听

38. The employment contract with 香港六合彩 continues during PL, and the period of continuous employment for the calculation of superannuation, benefits, accrual of annual leave and entitlement to statutory rights, is not affected.听

Monitoring of Policy

39. The Employment Policy Team will keep the monitoring of paternity/partner鈥檚 leave and the operation of this policy under review.

Updated by听HR Employment Policy Team
September 2024