ICB have written in August and November 2023 about the changes to Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay effective April 2024.
To read the previous articles, please see here:
August article
November article
The effective date is different by one day because Paternity Leave (birth) is all to do with the date the baby was expected whilst Paternity Leave (adoption) is all to do with the actual date the child is placed. So the changes are effective where:
- Paternity (birth) where the Expected Week of Childbirth starts on and after Sunday 07 April 2024
- Paternity (adoption) where the actual date of placement in on and after Saturday 06 April 2024
The legislation (The Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024) and HMRC’s Agent Update does not express it this way and refers to the changes being effective:
- Paternity (birth) where the Expected Week of Childbirth is after 06 April 2024
- Paternity (adoption) where the actual date of placement in on and after 06 April 2024
The subtle difference could lead employers to believe that the flexibility changes for both and adoption are effective 06 April 2024. The ‘problem’ is for employees who are entitled to Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay, the birth is expected on and after 07 April 2024 but the baby arrives early.
For Bookkeepers
Bookkeepers and employers should process Leave and Pay on the assumption the child will be born on the date it was expected. Therefore, flexibility should be allowed in terms of allowing the 2 weeks to be taken in separate blocks of one week. However, if the child is born early and the employer allows the Leave to be taken in separate blocks, this creates issues with payrolls software and HMRC’s systems. These will not be updated until 06 April 2024 meaning the employer allows flexibility but cannot make the reclaim (the 92% or 103% if the employer is small).
If this happens, HMRC’s ‘transitional guidance’ in the Agent Update is to reclaim one week via payroll software and manually apply for a repayment of the second week. For manual reclaims, bookkeepers need to be aware of HMRC’s guidance ‘Get financial help with statutory pay’, specifically, the ‘How to reclaim’ section near the bottom.
Bookkeepers should check that payroll software is updated for the new tax year to allow:
- Leave (and Pay) to be taken in separate blocks of one week
- Leave (and Pay) to be taken within 52 weeks of the birth / placement
