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Commencement regulations were made on 15 December 2025 bringing the Paternity Leave (Bereavement) Act 2024 into force with effect from 29 December 2025. As a result, fathers/partners of a mother or adopter of a child who dies in childbirth, or within a year of the birth or adoption, are no longer required to have six months' service in order to be able to take paternity leave, and will no longer be prohibited from taking paternity leave if they have already taken shared parental leave.
Note these changes will be made for all fathers/partners under the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) in due course, planned for April 2026.) The impact of these changes will be limited, but employers may want to amend relevant policies or at least ensure relevant managers are aware of the changes (prior to making amendments to reflect the ERA 2025).
Further changes to rights for bereaved fathers/partners are also expected. The 2024 Act enables regulations to be made to permit bereaved fathers/partners to take paternity leave where the child also dies, to take KIT days during extended leave and to benefit from extended enhanced redundancy protection. The government is also expected to regulate to increase the period of leave available in such circumstances from the usual two weeks to 52 weeks. The government has not yet confirmed when these further regulations will be made.
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