Can I change the date my paternity leave starts?

Once you have given your employer notice of the date you intend your leave to start on, you are entitled to vary this date but you have to give your employer 28 days notice of the new date that your leave will start on. If it is not possible to give 28 days notice, you must give this notice as soon as is 'reasonably practicable'. If the child is not born on or before that date, you can vary your leave date to begin:

• with a later pre-determined date; or
• on a specified number of days after the child is born; or
• on the date that the child is born.

Your paternity leave period will begin on the date you specified in the final notice you gave your employer. If you have stated that your leave period will start on the date that the child is born, and you are at work on that date, then your paternity leave period will begin the next day.