UK Government Response to the WEC Paternity Report: The Future of Fathers’ Rights in the Workplace

We recently reported on the impact that poor paternity offerings in the UK is having on the mental health of fathers.

On 19 September 2025, the government published its response to the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) report into paternity rights and shared parental leave (SPL), providing insights into changes to fathers’ rights we might see in the future.

With UK fathers’ rights being hot on the agenda, we take a look at the response in detail and future implications for employers in supporting employees taking paternity leave.

Overview of the WEC report on paternity leave and shared parental leave

In December 2024, the WEC launched an inquiry into paternity rights and SPL.

Following the outcome of that inquiry, the WEC produced a report which recommended major reforms:

• Extending statutory paternity leave to six weeks.
• Aligning statutory paternity pay (SPP) with statutory maternity pay for the first six weeks.
• Increasing take-up of paternity leave.
• Simplifying and reforming SPL.
• Improving provision for self-employed parents, kinship carers, single-parent families, and parents of multiples.

The WEC argued these changes would help to promote gender equality, reduce stigma around paternity leave and support families’ wellbeing.

The government’s response to the WEC report

The government began its own 18-month review of parental leave and pay in July 2025. It stopped short of major immediate reforms, instead folding the WEC’s recommendations into its ongoing review.

The government has committed to:

• Reviewing SPP as part of a wider review into parental leave and pay entitlements.
• Making unpaid paternity and parental leave day one rights as proposed under the Employment Rights Bill (ERB), making an additional 32,000 fathers or partners eligible for unpaid paternity leave.
• Allowing paternity leave to be taken after SPL as proposed under the ERB.

Employers may also need to include parental leave policies in new gender pay gap ‘equality action plans’ under the ERB.

The government will undertake focus groups and roundtables to better understand lived experience and will consider the following as part of its wider review:

• How to better support self-employed parents.
• Cultural and societal barriers to parents taking their parental leave entitlements.
• Simplifying eligibility for SPL and looking at international models.
• The adequacy of protections for fathers taking paternity leave, including redundancy protection.
• Including paid leave for kinship carers in the paid parental leave system.
• Addressing inequality for single parent families and parents of multiple births.

When will we see reform of the rights of fathers in the workplace?

The government welcomed the WEC’s report but has delayed additional concrete reforms, citing administrative and financial challenges. The government has promised a holistic review of all parental leave and pay systems, with limited short-term changes through the ERB.

However, with the government’s review not due to finish until early 2027, it is likely to be several years before any changes to the parental leave and pay system are decided and implemented.

Implications for Employers

The UK government’s response to the WEC report and its 18-month report into paternity leave and pay signals a cautions approach. That being said, the acknowledgment and intention to usher in changes such as providing fathers with day-one rights, does suggest these changes could be on the horizon.

Therefore, employers would benefit from getting ahead of the changes sooner rather than later. HR teams may be required to:

• Review existing policies on paternity and parental leave.
• Start to include parental leave in gender pay gap reports and action plans.
• Monitor developments from the 18-month review and associated consultations.

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