OUAPPL

OUAPPL can be taken as:

• one block of up to 10 weeks:  this can follow on immediately after a period of Statutory Paternity Leave to create a 12 week period of leave, if wished, or be taken at another time

or

• up to 3 discontinuous blocks of a minimum of 1 week.

The two week Statutory Paternity Leave entitlement must be exhausted before OUAPPL can be taken.

If you hold more than one post with the University all OUAPPL should be booked to be taken at the same time across all posts. 

If you wish to take leave in multiple blocks (up to a maximum of 3) approval of the request will be subject to operational requirements. Departments may propose an alternative pattern of leave instead but you will not lose your leave entitlement in such cases.

You must notify your department that you wish to take OUAPPL by the qualifying week (15 weeks before the EWC) by completing Part A of the Paternity leave Plan. If you are able to book your leave dates at the same time (by completing Part B of the plan) this will help your department with planning for your absence.

If you are qualifying under the Day One provisions you must have started employment at least one day before the EWC or actual date of birth or placement and you should notify your department as early as you can, which may be before you actually start employment with the University.

The full two week Statutory Paternity Leave entitlement must be used before OUAPPL can be taken.

When you know what dates of leave you wish to take you must notify your department at least 8 weeks before the leave is due to begin, but longer notice is helpful, particularly if you plan a long period of leave where cover arrangements need to be made. If you wish to change these dates you will need to give 8 weeks’ notice of any revised dates of leave.

If you wish to take leave in multiple, discontinuous blocks a maximum number of 3 blocks is available, and approval of all requests for a period of leave will be considered in relation to operational requirements. Where the requested dates are not operationally possible, departments may propose an alternative pattern or dates of leave instead.

If you intend to take a period of Shared Parental Leave (ShPL) in addition to Statutory Paternity Leave and OUAPPL, please note that a maximum of 26 weeks leave at the rate of full pay is available through any combination of family leave options.  More than 26 weeks leave may be available but any weeks over the 26-week maximum full pay entitlement would be either paid at a statutory rate of pay or unpaid, depending on the remaining ShPL and ShPP  entitlement.

In the sad event of a child being stillborn after the mother had completed 24 weeks of pregnancy, as the father or partner of the mother you would still be entitled to 2 weeks of Statutory Paternity Leave and Pay provided you meet the eligibility criteria (see the Statutory Paternity Leave scheme guidance) but you will not be eligible for OUAPPL.  Parental bereavement leave may also be available.

Pregnancy loss before 24 weeks is defined as miscarriage, and the paternity leave and pay schemes are not available, but departments should consider granting compassionate leave.

During any family leave period, the department may make reasonable contact with an employee and, in the same way, an employee may make contact with their department. The frequency and nature of the contact will depend on a number of factors, such as the length of leave and the nature of the work.

It is therefore helpful, before Statutory Paternity Leave or OUAPPL starts, to discuss arrangements for staying in touch. This might include agreements on the way in which contact will happen, how often and who will initiate the contact. It might also cover the reasons for making contact and the types of issues that might be discussed.

The employing department should, in any event, keep you informed of any information relating to your employment that you would normally be made aware of if you were working.

During the whole period of OUAPPL the employee is entitled to receive all their contractual benefits with the exception of remuneration. This includes all non-cash benefits such as childcare vouchers.

Contractual annual leave (including bank holidays and fixed closure days) will accrue throughout the full period of leave.

In order to be eligible for OUAPPL you must have the intention to return to work for a period of at least 3 months after the end of the planned leave.

If you hold a fixed-term contract which will end during your planned leave or within the 3 month return period, you are still eligible to commence a period of leave as long as you intend to return,  and engage with redeployment efforts, and are willing to accept a suitable alternative post if this can be offered to you.  However, in the event that redeployment is not successful and your fixed term contract ends before or during any period of booked OUAPPL, entitlement to paid leave will end on the date that employment ends.   

All normal efforts will be made to assist you with redeployment but as OUAPPL is a contractual scheme and not statutory leave, the new Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023 provisions cannot be applied.

In common with other family leave schemes, in the event that you decide not to return to work, and/or do not remain in your post for a minimum period of 3 months after taking OUAPPL, you will be asked to reimburse the University for the costs of the period of leave. 

This provision does not apply in the event that leaving is not your choice, for example if you have a fixed-term contract that expires within 3 months of the end of your leave without successful redeployment (see above).

Transitional arrangements are in place in order that parents of babies born/children placed before 31 January 2025, and who are still within the first year after birth or placement, can access the scheme, proportionately.

A pro-rata entitlement may be available if you meet the eligibility criteria above, and:

• you were employed by the University at the date that your child was born/placed; and
• all planned periods of OUAPPL will be completed before your child’s first birthday, or before the first anniversary of the date they were placed with you for adoption; and
• you can given the appropriate notice period for any leave periods you wish to take; and
• you have not already taken, or booked, more than 2 weeks Statutory Paternity Leave and 24 weeks Shared Parental Leave paid at the rate of full pay, in any combination (no more than 26 weeks leave at the rate of full pay is available in total). 

The entitlement to 10 weeks leave over a 50 week period (ie a full year, minus the existing 2 week Statutory Paternity Leave entitlement) is equal to 1 day’s full paid leave for each complete week worked across the year (ie 10 weeks divided by 50 weeks is 0.2 which equates to 1 day per week for a full time employee).  For those eligible through the transitional arrangement the prorated entitlement will be 1 day/0.2FTE of paid leave for every complete week (starting on a Sunday) after 31 January 2025 which still falls within the 52 week period since your child was born or placed with you. 

For example, a baby was born on Sunday 1 September 2024. As at 31 January 2025 the child is 22 weeks old and there are  30 weeks before the child’s first birthday.  A full-time employee could therefore take 30 days (equivalent to 6 weeks) of paid paternity leave within this period, subject to the scheme rules regarding booking and taking leave. For part-time employees the entitlement is pro-rated according to the FTE for the post.

Can leave be taken as single days to enable my partner to undertake some KIT or SPLIT days?

All family leave must be taken in periods of minimum 1 week but annual leave, additional annual leave or unpaid leave can be used where a single day’s leave is needed.

Can I take the leave as half days or hours to help with settling our child into longer-term childcare?

All family leave must be taken in periods of minimum 1 week.  However, annual leave can be taken more flexibly to deal with issues such as settling a child into childcare.  Additional annual leave may also be considered, or a temporary flexible working arrangement to temporarily reduce hours of work, or alter your start and finish times so that you can be on hand to help with the early days of a new childcare arrangement.   

If flexibility is required beyond the first few weeks then a permanent flexible working application could be made to reduce or alter hours of work, or working arrangements. Make sure you discuss this early with your department and be prepared to be flexible around operational requirements. See Flexible working | HR Support for further information.

My baby was born before the scheme was launched – can I benefit?

Transitional arrangements are in place in order that parents of babies born/children placed before 31 January 2025, and who are still within the first year after birth or placement, can access the scheme, proportionately. See transitional arrangements above.

I don’t want to take 10 weeks OUAPPL – can I give this entitlement to my partner who works for the University?

No, this is a personal, non-transferable leave entitlement.

I have a college post as well as a University post – can I claim OUAPPL from my college post?

The colleges (with the exception of Kellogg, Reuben and St Cross) are wholly separate legal entities with their own contractual terms and conditions.  You will need to speak to your college HR contact to understand what may be available under your college contract.