SPP (Birth) Details

If you have selected the Use Full SPP (Birth) Processing on the Payroll - Processing - Utilities form you can store all the details required for the calculation of Statutory Paternity Pay for new births.

You must ensure you have created an SPP (Birth) type payment profile in the Payroll - Maintenance - Payment Profile command. The application can then automatically calculate an employee's SPP for the period and maintain the relevant history.

Split SPP Payments

From the 2024/25 tax year, employed fathers in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) can take Paternity Pay and Leave (PPL) in 2 non-consecutive periods of 1 week or a 2-week block within 52 weeks of the birth of the child.

If 2 non-consecutive periods are to be taken as PPL by the father then you should enter the SPP details in the normal way using the SPP (Birth) Details command; then manually calculate the value of each split payment and adjust the SPP payment manually in the Temp Value field using the Payroll - Processing - Pay & Deductions command.

Until further notice, PPL legislation for Northern Ireland dictates that paternity pay and leave must be taken in a singular block of up to 2 weeks and within 56 days of the birth of the child, therefore it is necessary to identify employees who are to be treated under the Northern Ireland legislation.

SPP (Birth) Detail Entries

General

Box	Description
Baby's Due Date	The date on which the baby is expected to be born. This is mandatory. Once you have entered this date, the application automatically calculates the following dates: the start of the expected week of childbirth; the start of the qualifying week; the latest start date for continuous employment; the relevant period start and end dates and the latest PPP start date. These dates are displayed in the appropriate boxes in the right-hand side of the form. You cannot override these dates.
Declaration of Family Commitment Received	An option that indicates that you have received the declaration of family commitment. Without this option selected, the employee is not entitled to SPP. As an employer, you should keep a copy of this declaration for your own records.
Baby's Actual DOB	The actual date of birth of the baby. You cannot enter this date unless the Declaration of Family Commitment Received option is selected.
Intended Leave Date	The date on which your employee is expected to take paternity leave. Once you have entered this date, the application automatically calculates the PPP start date and the PPP end date. These dates are displayed in the appropriate boxes in the right-hand side of the form. You cannot override these dates.
Weeks to be taken	The number of weeks paternity leave to be taken. This can be up to two weeks.
On Paternity Leave	An option that indicates whether the employee is on paternity leave. This option is activated by the entry of a date in the Intended Leave Date box. Once the employee goes on leave, select this option.
Actual Leave Date	The day before the baby was born. You can only enter this once you have selected the On Paternity Leave option. The default is the date you entered in the Intended Leave Date box. You must enter the day before the baby was born, even if they left before that. For example, if the baby was born on Monday and they started paternity leave on the previous Friday, enter the date for the Sunday instead of Friday. This allows Opera to correctly calculate the start of the Paternity Pay Period.
Weeks Worked in PPP	The number of weeks, if any, that the employee worked in your employment during the PPP for the current pay period. When you make an entry here, the application automatically defers payment of SPP for any weeks worked. Should the employee work for you again later on in their PPP, increase this entry by the number of weeks worked in the subsequent pay period.
Trade Dispute Weeks	The number of weeks, if any, that the employee spent in trade dispute.
Returned After PPP	The date on which the employee returned to your employment after the PPP. If the employee returns to work early, enter the return date here to automatically cease the employee's remaining SPP payments.
Special Circumstances	An option that determines any special circumstances that might affect the entitlement to or calculation of SPP for the employee. The options available are: None Pregnancy Ended Employee Deceased Taken into legal custody Outside European Economic Area Loss of Child (Live Birth). Refer to the official employer's guide to Statutory Paternity Pay for further guidance. For all circumstances other than 'None' and 'Outside European Economic Area', you also enter a comment and date in the boxes alongside.
Expected Wk Childbirth	The Sunday of the expected week of childbirth.
Qualifying Week	The qualifying week that applies to SPP. The entitlement to SPP is based on calculating the employee's gross average weekly earnings over this number of qualifying week.
PPP Start	The paternity pay period start date which is the day after the Actual Leave Date.
PPP End	The paternity pay period end date calculated using the Weeks for Paternity Pay Period box on the active PAYE/NI/Stat. Payments table.
Latest Date Contin.Employ.	The latest date from which the employee must have been in continuous employment with the employer. This is at least 26 weeks before the Saturday in the Matching Week.
Relevant Period Start	The relevant pay period start date associated with the paternity pay period.
Relevant Period End	The relevant pay period end date associated with the paternity pay period.
Latest PPP Start	The latest start date for the Paternity Pay Period (PPP). This date is calculated using the Actual Placement Date and the number of days in the Time Limit Days box (on the active PAYE/NI/Stat. Payments table). If the Actual Placement Date is not known, the Expected Placement Date is used.

Box

Description

Baby's Due Date

The date on which the baby is expected to be born. This is mandatory. Once you have entered this date, the application automatically calculates the following dates: the start of the expected week of childbirth; the start of the qualifying week; the latest start date for continuous employment; the relevant period start and end dates and the latest PPP start date. These dates are displayed in the appropriate boxes in the right-hand side of the form. You cannot override these dates.

Declaration of Family Commitment Received

An option that indicates that you have received the declaration of family commitment. Without this option selected, the employee is not entitled to SPP. As an employer, you should keep a copy of this declaration for your own records.

Baby's Actual DOB

The actual date of birth of the baby. You cannot enter this date unless the Declaration of Family Commitment Received option is selected.

Intended Leave Date

The date on which your employee is expected to take paternity leave. Once you have entered this date, the application automatically calculates the PPP start date and the PPP end date. These dates are displayed in the appropriate boxes in the right-hand side of the form. You cannot override these dates.

Weeks to be taken

The number of weeks paternity leave to be taken. This can be up to two weeks.

On Paternity Leave

An option that indicates whether the employee is on paternity leave. This option is activated by the entry of a date in the Intended Leave Date box. Once the employee goes on leave, select this option.

Actual Leave Date

The day before the baby was born. You can only enter this once you have selected the On Paternity Leave option. The default is the date you entered in the Intended Leave Date box.

You must enter the day before the baby was born, even if they left before that. For example, if the baby was born on Monday and they started paternity leave on the previous Friday, enter the date for the Sunday instead of Friday. This allows Opera to correctly calculate the start of the Paternity Pay Period.

Weeks Worked in PPP

The number of weeks, if any, that the employee worked in your employment during the PPP for the current pay period. When you make an entry here, the application automatically defers payment of SPP for any weeks worked. Should the employee work for you again later on in their PPP, increase this entry by the number of weeks worked in the subsequent pay period.

Trade Dispute Weeks

The number of weeks, if any, that the employee spent in trade dispute.

Returned After PPP

The date on which the employee returned to your employment after the PPP. If the employee returns to work early, enter the return date here to automatically cease the employee's remaining SPP payments.

Special Circumstances

An option that determines any special circumstances that might affect the entitlement to or calculation of SPP for the employee. The options available are:

None
Pregnancy Ended
Employee Deceased
Taken into legal custody
Outside European Economic Area
Loss of Child (Live Birth).

Refer to the official employer's guide to Statutory Paternity Pay for further guidance. For all circumstances other than 'None' and 'Outside European Economic Area', you also enter a comment and date in the boxes alongside.

Expected Wk Childbirth

The Sunday of the expected week of childbirth.

Qualifying Week

The qualifying week that applies to SPP. The entitlement to SPP is based on calculating the employee's gross average weekly earnings over this number of qualifying week.

PPP Start

The paternity pay period start date which is the day after the Actual Leave Date.

PPP End

The paternity pay period end date calculated using the Weeks for Paternity Pay Period box on the active PAYE/NI/Stat. Payments table.

Latest Date Contin.Employ.

The latest date from which the employee must have been in continuous employment with the employer. This is at least 26 weeks before the Saturday in the Matching Week.

Relevant Period Start

The relevant pay period start date associated with the paternity pay period.

Relevant Period End

The relevant pay period end date associated with the paternity pay period.

Latest PPP Start

The latest start date for the Paternity Pay Period (PPP). This date is calculated using the Actual Placement Date and the number of days in the Time Limit Days box (on the active PAYE/NI/Stat. Payments table). If the Actual Placement Date is not known, the Expected Placement Date is used.

Entitlement

Use the Entitlement tab to view the estimated entitlement for the employee as well as the SPP status for actual payments. The boxes on the tab are updated automatically by the Calculation command. If you change any of the details in the boxes, you must then run the Calculation command before the changes come into effect.

Box	Description
Calculated Average Weekly Earnings	The average gross weekly earnings of the employee in the relevant period. This is calculated automatically and cannot be amended here, but you can override it using the Override Average Weekly Earnings box.
Override Average Weekly Earnings	You can override the automatically calculated average weekly earnings for the employee by entering your own figure here. The application will prompt you to enter an override if there is insufficient payment history for the employee to determine a calculated average weekly earnings figure.
Entitlement	If you use the Estimate Entitlement command on the Action menu, the application estimates the SPP payments at the earnings related rate or the standard rate. In each case, the columns in the grid show the number of weeks at the corresponding rate, the rate itself and the value of SPP at that rate. A line of totals is shown for both rates.
SPP Payment Status	This part of the form reflects the results of actual SPP payments. The number of weeks at the earnings related and standard rates, plus the weeks remaining are shown for this period (TP), for the year to date (TD) and for the year to date this period (TDTP). The amounts actually paid for the corresponding periods are also shown.

Box

Description

Calculated Average Weekly Earnings

The average gross weekly earnings of the employee in the relevant period. This is calculated automatically and cannot be amended here, but you can override it using the Override Average Weekly Earnings box.

Override Average Weekly Earnings

You can override the automatically calculated average weekly earnings for the employee by entering your own figure here. The application will prompt you to enter an override if there is insufficient payment history for the employee to determine a calculated average weekly earnings figure.

Entitlement

If you use the Estimate Entitlement command on the Action menu, the application estimates the SPP payments at the earnings related rate or the standard rate. In each case, the columns in the grid show the number of weeks at the corresponding rate, the rate itself and the value of SPP at that rate. A line of totals is shown for both rates.

SPP Payment Status

This part of the form reflects the results of actual SPP payments. The number of weeks at the earnings related and standard rates, plus the weeks remaining are shown for this period (TP), for the year to date (TD) and for the year to date this period (TDTP). The amounts actually paid for the corresponding periods are also shown.

Entitlements under Employment Rights Act (2025)

The Employment Rights Act (2025) removed, as of the 2026/27 tax year, the requirement for employees to have worked a minimum of 26 weeks before applying for parental leave however it did not remove the requirement for employees to have worked a minimum of 26 weeks before being paid for that parental leave.

Actions

The following commands are available on the Action menu associated with the SPP (Birth) Details form:

Use this command	To
Relevant Period Details	Display a form showing all eight sets of relevant period values based on the entries in the SPP (Birth) Details form.
Estimate Entitlement	View the anticipated SPP entitlement for the employee prior to their going on paternity leave. An intended leave date must have been entered.
Calculate	Calculate and display the SPP for the employee that is due to be paid this period. This is only available if the On Paternity Leave option is selected on the General tab of the SPP (Birth) Details form.

Use this command

Relevant Period Details

Display a form showing all eight sets of relevant period values based on the entries in the SPP (Birth) Details form.

Estimate Entitlement

View the anticipated SPP entitlement for the employee prior to their going on paternity leave.

An intended leave date must have been entered.

Calculate

Calculate and display the SPP for the employee that is due to be paid this period. This is only available if the On Paternity Leave option is selected on the General tab of the SPP (Birth) Details form.