Being an adult is realising just how little you can do with 28 days of annual leave. 

But while the rest of us are left tallying bank holidays in a bid to get 10 days off for the price of five, others are, you know, faking having a child just to get some time away from their desk.

We know, ridiculous right? But one man who wrote into the confessional Twitter account Fesshole says he did just that.

‘I’ve enjoyed statutory paternity leave for four out of the last five years,’ he wrote.

‘I’m single and don’t have any kids. 

‘Work has never checked for proof of an actual baby, but just to be safe I have a Googled random baby as my phone screensaver and change it every time I become a “Dad”.’

I’ve enjoyed statutory paternity leave for 4 out of the last 5 years. I’m single and don’t have any kids. Work have never checked for proof of an actual baby, but just to be safe I have a Googled random baby as my phone screensaver and change it every time I become a “Dad”

Surely not, right?

In the UK, fathers can choose to take one to two weeks of leave in the first 56 days of their child being born.

You may be able to get statutory paternity pay, too, which is around £172.48, or 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower.

All you need to do is fill out a form with the due date, when you want your leave to start and whether or not you want one or two weeks’ leave — but you don’t actually need to provide any proof of the pregnancy or birth.

Don’t believe us? Check the government guidelines.

Some people in the comments noted that bigger firms with decent Human Resources departments are more likely to ask for a maternity certificate (or MAT B1 form) to prove the birth.

It goes without saying that lying about this is a big risk. If this man got caught, he’d likely be fired for gross misconduct, and getting a reference would be pretty much impossible.

But, frankly, the game is the game, and he’s currently winning. Well, until he gets accused of fraud.

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