Hi all.
My former partner is due to give birth on the 26th of May 2016. A very long and complicated story but over the last two months our relationship has broken down beyond repair, to the extent that I'm facing the likelihood of raising our child alone. I have a good family network so I'm confident I can manage but I'm under no illusion it will be extremely tough.
I work for local government and my former partner/mother of the child is a self employed artist. I've been unable to find any clear guidance on what I would be entitled to in terms of paternity leave should I end up as a single father. From what I understand I get two weeks but may also be able to share the mothers entitlement. The issue here being that the mother is self employed so I'm not sure if she is entitled to any leave that will be available to share. I've tried both the government and citizens advice websites and neither are really clear, I appreciate it's probably not a common situation.
I'm really confused so would appreciate some advice.
Thanks in advance.
Hi there
The only thing I can advise is for you to contact ACAS, I'm sure they will be able to give you the correct information.
Here's a link to their guidelines about paternity leave, but as your circumstance are uncommon it would be better to give their helpline a call.
http://m.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1806
Here's a link to their contact details