Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave (2026)

Employees in Great Britain get up to 52 weeks of statutory maternity leave from day one, and from 6 April 2026 the right to statutory paternity leave and unpaid parental leave also become day-one rights under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

Statutory Maternity Leave: Up to 52 Weeks

Statutory Maternity Leave runs for up to 52 weeks in total: 26 weeks of Ordinary Maternity Leave (OML) followed by 26 weeks of Additional Maternity Leave (AML), according to GOV.UK. It is a day-one right, meaning every employee qualifies regardless of how long they have worked for their employer. Maternity leave is about time off work, not pay; Statutory Maternity Pay, where it applies, runs for a shorter maximum of 39 weeks within that 52-week period (see our guide to Statutory Maternity Pay), so the later weeks of Additional Maternity Leave can be unpaid unless the employer offers enhanced contractual pay. An employee is not required to take the full 52 weeks and can return to work earlier, subject to the notice rules GOV.UK sets out. Maternity leave also protects continuity of employment, pension contributions and most other contractual benefits throughout the full 52 weeks.

Statutory Paternity Leave: 2 Weeks, Splittable Since 2024, Day-One from April 2026

Statutory Paternity Leave gives eligible employees 2 weeks of leave to support a partner around the birth or adoption of a child, according to GOV.UK. Since 6 April 2024, under the Paternity Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2024, those 2 weeks can be taken either as a single block of 1 or 2 weeks or as two separate one-week blocks, and can be taken at any point within 52 weeks of the birth or placement for adoption, rather than only within the first 56 days as before. Until 6 April 2026, paternity leave also carries a minimum-service qualifying requirement and cannot be taken after a period of Shared Parental Leave; from that date, under the Employment Rights Act 2025, it becomes a day-one right and the restriction on taking it after Shared Parental Leave is removed. Paternity leave is separate from, and can be combined with, Shared Parental Leave and any unpaid parental leave the employee is entitled to.

Shared Parental Leave: Splitting Up to 50 Weeks

Shared Parental Leave (SPL) lets eligible parents share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay between them, once the mother or primary adopter ends, or curtails, their own maternity or adoption leave and pay, according to GOV.UK. The remaining balance of the 52-week maternity leave entitlement, and the 39-week pay entitlement, becomes shared leave and pay that either parent can take, in one continuous block or in separate blocks, and the two parents can be off work at the same time or take turns. Eligibility for SPL depends on both parents separately meeting work and earnings tests, which GOV.UK and ACAS set out in detail. Because SPL is built out of curtailed maternity leave and pay rather than a fresh entitlement, it works as a flexible way of reallocating the maternity entitlement between two parents, not as an additional block of leave on top of it.

Adoption Leave

Statutory Adoption Leave mirrors Statutory Maternity Leave: up to 52 weeks, made up of 26 weeks of Ordinary Adoption Leave and 26 weeks of Additional Adoption Leave, according to GOV.UK. It is a day-one right for the employee who is matched with a child for adoption. Where a couple adopts jointly, only one partner can take adoption leave; the other may instead be able to take paternity leave or Shared Parental Leave. Adoption leave is also available to parents having a child through a surrogacy arrangement who meet the parental order conditions, and to some employees matched with a child for long-term fostering to adopt. As with maternity leave, statutory adoption pay runs for a shorter maximum of 39 weeks within the 52-week leave period.

Unpaid Parental Leave: 18 Weeks Per Child, Day-One from April 2026

Unpaid Parental Leave lets eligible parents take up to 18 weeks of leave per child, usable up until the child's 18th birthday, according to GOV.UK. It is separate from, and additional to, maternity, paternity and adoption leave, and, as the name suggests, it is unpaid unless an employer chooses to pay it. Until 6 April 2026, an employee needs at least one year's continuous service with their employer to qualify; from that date, under the Employment Rights Act 2025, unpaid parental leave becomes a day-one right, removing the previous one-year service requirement. Employers can ask for reasonable notice of a parental leave request and, in most cases, can postpone rather than refuse outright a request for business reasons; GOV.UK sets out the notice and postponement rules in full.

Leave Types at a Glance

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has its own maternity, paternity, shared parental and parental leave legislation, administered separately from Great Britain, with broadly the same structure and durations described above. NI sets its own limits, which currently mirror GB, but the exact day-one timing of the April 2026 paternity and parental leave changes may differ, so check nidirect.gov.uk before assuming the Great Britain date applies. Leave-related disputes in Northern Ireland go to the Industrial Tribunal, and the Fair Employment Tribunal for discrimination linked to pregnancy, maternity or paternity, not the Employment Tribunal used in Great Britain, and the relevant advisory and enforcement body is the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) rather than ACAS.

Related guides

For the full picture of UK employment rights, see our UK employment law hub and United Kingdom laws hub. See also our guides to Statutory Maternity Pay, flexible working requests, and holiday entitlement.

This article is general information only, not legal advice, and does not cover every circumstance. Maternity, paternity, shared parental and unpaid parental leave rules can change and individual situations vary, so for advice about your specific case contact ACAS or a qualified solicitor.