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Paternity leave notice to your employer (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland · in English · for employees
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For an employee in Northern Ireland who is the child's father, or the mother's spouse, civil partner or partner, with 26 weeks' service by the 15th week before the baby is due: a notice of paternity leave — one week or two consecutive weeks, taken within 56 days of the birth — giving the expected week of childbirth, when the leave starts and the declaration that you will share responsibility for the child's upbringing. Northern Ireland keeps these rules; Great Britain's separate weeks and day-one right do not apply. Hand it in and email it.
- Made for use in Northern Ireland
- Last updated October 29, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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When to use this document
- Your partner is expecting a baby and you want to tell your employer in Northern Ireland about paternity leave.
- You want your two weeks of paternity leave together straight after the birth.
- You do not know the exact day of the birth and want the leave to start the day the baby arrives.
- You want to give your employer written notice of your paternity leave.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employee
- Employee's address
- Town or city
- Employee's postcode
- Date
- Person at your employer you are writing to, as you would greet them (e.g. Priya Patel)
- Employer
- Employer's postal address (street and number, postcode and town on separate lines)
- Expected week of childbirth: the Sunday it begins (as on the MAT B1)
- Length of paternity leave
- When the leave starts (the day of the birth, a number of days after it, or a date)
- Your relationship to the child
Common questions
- Who can take paternity leave in Northern Ireland, and how long must they have worked?
- An employee who is the child's father, or the mother's spouse, civil partner or partner, who expects to share responsibility for bringing the child up, and who has worked for the employer for 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth. Northern Ireland has not made Great Britain's day-one right. Statutory Paternity Pay — £194.32 a week or 90% of average earnings if lower — also needs earnings at least at the lower earnings limit.
- Can paternity leave in Northern Ireland be split, and by when must it be taken?
- No. In Northern Ireland paternity leave is one week or two consecutive weeks, not odd days and not two separate weeks, and it must be taken within 56 days of the birth (counted from the expected week if the baby is born early). It can start on the day of the birth, a set number of days after it, or a chosen date. Give notice by the end of the 15th week before the expected week; the start can be changed on 28 days' notice.
- Is HMRC's form SC3 needed for Statutory Paternity Pay in Northern Ireland?
- Your employer needs a declaration for the pay: HMRC's free form SC3, or the employer's own version, asks for the expected week, the relationship and the dates. HMRC runs Statutory Paternity Pay across the UK. This notice gives the same facts for the leave and asks your employer whether they need any further form for the pay. If you do not qualify for the pay, the leave is still yours, unpaid unless your contract pays it.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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