Dave: (phone rings) You all right Mark! How’s things?

Mark: All good, all good, you?

Dave: Yeah good thanks mate, just hitting some balls, you know how it is.

Mark: Ah, enjoy it while you can! Julia’s out with the kids and I’m left here doing the laundry.

Dave: Nice!

Mark: Listen, I got your message about paternity leave. What do you want to know?

Dave: Yeah, well I’ve got a few questions like how long you actually get, you seem to be home a lot now since you’ve had Jack?

Mark: Ah well it depends, straight after Jack was born I got two weeks ‘ordinary leave’ but right now I’m on additional paternity leave. Me and Julia swapped so I’m taking 26 weeks of her statutory maternity leave.  Why don’t you and Mandy think about doing the same, you could swap and look after the baby instead, while she goes back to work of course!

Dave: Yeah, right.

Mark: Yeah, we’ve done it so we can both spend some time with Jack in his first year, and lets face it she earns more than me, so we could do with getting her salary back sooner.

Dave: Nice though, 6 months off!

Mark: Don’t be fooled, buddy, it’s hard work looking after a baby!

Dave: Yeah sure. Look, I’m just gonna have a shot (takes shot). So do I get paid?

Mark: Well, you were both employed when she got pregnant right? And you’re paying national insurance? So you should get the same weekly statutory maternity pay as Mandy would get. You’ll still be taxed though! 

Dave: Right.

Mark: Actually, has Mandy started going to antenatal classes yet?

Dave: No no, we’re just looking into that, why?

Mark: Well, she’s entitled to some time off but you’re not, so I guess you should check with your boss, see what your options are.

Dave: Wow, there’s a lot to plan! So when do I actually start taking my leave?

Mark: Well you take it after the birth, but be careful though, there are time limits with both kinds of leave, so make sure you get it right.

Dave: Right, look, look hang on, (takes shot). On the green!

Mark: Nice!

Dave: Yeah, in four shots though.

Mark: Hmm must be hard in this wind?

Dave: No, no excuse it’s nice here! Right, so, how does paternity leave affect my holiday?

Mark: Well it doesn’t really. You still get it on top of your ordinary leave and it accrues during your additional leave too.

Dave: As if I was at work?

Mark: Yep.

Dave: Ok. That’s cleared things up a bit. Ah, actually, when do I need to sort all this out by with my work?

Mark: Yeah, well you’ve got some time left for ordinary leave. You need to give 15 weeks before the start of the week your baby’s due, so work that out. And get it right or you might lose it!

Dave: So what’s that, almost 4 months before?

Mark: Yeah and for additional leave you need to give 8 weeks notice.  But it can’t start until the baby is 20 weeks old.

Dave: Ah, cheers mate, well I’ve got a little bit of maths to do but that’s really helped already!

Mark: Yeah, no worries, it’s pretty straightforward once you’ve worked it all out. Anyway, I’ll let you get back to your game, but call me any time buddy!

Dave: I will do, cheers!