A guide to self-employed paternity pay

If you’re a self-employed dad-to-be, ideally you’ll want to take some time off from running your business once your child is born. But can you get self-employed paternity leave and pay?

Read on to discover all the options available for self-employed fathers.

is there self-employed paternity pay (and leave)?
planning your finances for paternity leave
running your business while on paternity leave
relevant child and family benefits
can limited company directors get paternity leave?

Is there self-employed paternity pay (and leave)?

Only employees with an employment contract can get Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) and leave. Currently, there is no self-employed equivalent. This guide is designed to help you plan around that, with ideas and ways of preparing your family’s affairs ready for your new baby’s birth and beyond.

Not sure of your employment status (i.e whether you’re an employee, contractor, self-employed, casual worker or something else)? Find out more about your employment status and rights with our up-to-date article, and read on here for what you can do as a self-employed dad-to-be.

Running your business while on paternity leave

When you’re self-employed, the amount of paternity leave you take is completely up to you. You’ll want to base this decision on what you can afford, but also on what works for you, your partner and any other children you may have. Money is very important, but every pregnancy, birth and baby is different, so have a plan to refer to but stay flexible.

Things to think about:

How much time can you afford to take off?
How will you plan around procedures such as a caesarean, if needed? Remember, these will mean your partner will need extra support and time from you.
Have you factored in pre-natal appointments and scans, as well as any false alarms for the beginnings of labour?
What will your partner’s maternity pay and leave look like?
If you have any other young children, who will be looking after them at the birth and in the weeks after?

Ben Gatenby, a self-employed locksmith in Leeds, took two weeks off when his child was born.

“While it wasn’t a long break, it was important to me to be present during those early days,” he says. “Although due to the emergency nature of the locksmith industry, I still ended up nipping out on the odd occasion for our most regular customers just to try and ensure we didn’t lose their custom.”

“They do say there’s no such thing as a day off when you’re self-employed!”

“Preparing for time off needed planning in advance. I saved up as much as possible in the run up to cover any lost income. I also took on more out of hours work than usual just to bank that bit extra. I was also upfront with regular customers, letting them know about my availability well in advance. Thankfully, most were understanding, which helped take away some of the stress.”

Dad.info is a great resource for dads and dads-to-be. In their guidance for self-employed fathers, they recommend saving about 5% of your monthly income, for each week you want to take off to be with your partner and new baby, or look after other aspects of family life. So if you find out about the pregnancy at the start of month two, you’ll have another seven months to save.

Whether this is manageable and realistic for you is another question. But planning around the birth with seven months to go is much better than seven weeks (or days) before the due date. But if you have left it until the last minute, don’t panic. Focus on your partner, the baby and those first couple of weeks, and rope in as much support from your team, family, friends and even clients, as you can.

Planning your finances for paternity leave

Sadly, there’s no equivalent to SPP for self-employed fathers. This may change (we hope it does), but for now the best thing you can do is start getting a plan in place for how you’ll manage family affairs, before the baby arrives.

Statutory paternity leave and pay is generally designed to kick in on or right around your baby’s day of delivery, covering you and your family for the time you’d need to spend away from work. It makes sense for your plan to focus on these days and weeks in particular. Once you’re clear on the due date and fortnight or so afterwards, think about how you’ll manage things if the baby arrives early, or a little (or a lot) later than expected.

Finally, bear in mind those all-important scan dates and pre-natal appointments. If you’re not sure, ask your partner for a list of what’s coming up. You may not decide to be at all of them, but being self-employed means you’ll need to factor in the time for any you do attend.

“Plan as much as you can in advance,” Ben advises. “Start saving as soon as you find out, even if it’s just a small amount each week or month, so you can take some time off without added financial stress.”

“Communicate clearly with customers about your plans, they’re often more understanding than you might expect. Most importantly, I would prioritise being present for the child, although I know that’s easier said than done when faced with financial stress. But those first few weeks are priceless. Money comes and goes, but you will never be able to get those early days with your child back.”

Relevant child and family benefits

While you can’t get paternity pay and leave as a self-employed father, there are still a number of benefits that could help boost your finances while you focus on your family.

You can access Child Benefit, for example, if you’re responsible for one or more children under the age of 16 (or 20, depending on their education status). Your employment status doesn’t matter, but you may have to pay a tax charge if your income (or your partner’s) is over £60,000.

Check the government website for an up to date list of family benefits and child-specific benefits.

Can limited company directors get paternity leave?

While you can’t get paternity leave if self-employed, company directors are another matter entirely. Since you’re technically employed – even though with your own company – and paying yourself through PAYE, you can claim up to two weeks of paid paternity leave.

To be eligible for paternity leave from your own limited company you’ll need to:

give 15 weeks’ notice (even just to yourself/your own company)
have been employed by your limited company continuously for a minimum period of 26 weeks up to the 15-week notice period
be employed by your limited company up to the date the child is born (or adopted)
be on the payroll of your limited company and earn a minimum of £120 gross weekly income during an eight-week period

You’ll need to take this leave in consecutive weeks and finish it within 56 days of the baby’s birth date (or adoption date). You can’t work at all while you’re claiming this type of leave. There are no exceptions, so be careful about how you delegate work before taking time off.

During your paternity leave you’ll still draw your salary from your limited company. The company then needs to claim this back from HMRC through payroll.

Are you expecting a child as a self-employed dad? Let us know in the comments.

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