In Scandanavia they call them “latte pappas” and in Sweden most fathers get at least one month of baby care and they can share their leave with their partners. So why not try it in the UK?
The UK is changing. Whilst businesses might not yet be operating at true levels of equality when it comes to women’s rights, figures quoted in May last year by the BBC suggested that 31% of the most senior positions across 11 key sectors are occupied by women. In 2004 this was just 19%. The number of women in senior positions can only increase, and this can only be a good thing. But in a world where everything seems achievable, how does raising a child fit in?
Well, as you may already know it was recently announced that the Government would be changing the rules on parental leave so that by 2015 a mother will be able to return to work very shortly after childbirth and share the rest of her maternity leave with her partner. This week the Government published more details, which are under currently consultation.
The idea is great. Not only will the mother be able to make a real decision about the balance between her career and home life, but it will give fathers the opportunity to get much more involved in their child’s upbringing. In turn this must be good for a child’s development. But a scheme of shared parental leave must be truly flexible and easy to use.
Having looked at the initial proposals, the system is promising and the requirements to take leave do not seem insurmountable.
There will be a statutory right for fathers and partners to have unpaid time off work to attend up to two ante-natal appointments, capped at 6.5 hours per appointment. The right to two weeks’ paid paternity leave will remain.
Parental leave of up to 52 weeks can then be shared between the parents and hopefully may be taken together. Eligibility depends on parents meeting minimum requirements of actually being in work for a minimum number of weeks and receiving certain levels of income, but the eligibility requirements at present don’t seem unreasonable or unduly onerous.
As with any statutory right to time off work, there will be notice requirements to comply with; the employer needs to be able to manage the situation with sufficient notice, but these also seem fairly straightforward. 8 weeks’ notice will be required of an intention to take shared parental leave or pay and parents will be able to fill out a form, which we hope will be easy to follow. It seems employees won’t have to set out their plans for the entire entitlement to leave when they request their first period of leave, which shows genuine flexibility in the government’s approach.
A 2 week discussion period will then be granted once the 8 week notice is given by the parent/s so that the employee and employer can discuss the pattern of leave before it is signed off. The employer will therefore have at least 6 weeks to plan before leave starts. The patterns of leave and amount of leave can be changed and at present, the number of times parents can transfer leave and pay entitlements between them won’t be limited.
It does seem that the Government will be moving us towards a truly flexible system of parental leave, which subject to finalising the specifics of administration, will no doubt be welcomed by most employees with open arms in 2015.
Daniel Kindell - Solicitor
For further information on Employment Rights, please visit our website or call 0113 245 0733 and ask to speak with our Employment Rights team.
The UK is changing. Whilst businesses might not yet be operating at true levels of equality when it comes to women’s rights, figures quoted in May last year by the BBC suggested that 31% of the most senior positions across 11 key sectors are occupied by women. In 2004 this was just 19%. The number of women in senior positions can only increase, and this can only be a good thing. But in a world where everything seems achievable, how does raising a child fit in?
Well, as you may already know it was recently announced that the Government would be changing the rules on parental leave so that by 2015 a mother will be able to return to work very shortly after childbirth and share the rest of her maternity leave with her partner. This week the Government published more details, which are under currently consultation.
The idea is great. Not only will the mother be able to make a real decision about the balance between her career and home life, but it will give fathers the opportunity to get much more involved in their child’s upbringing. In turn this must be good for a child’s development. But a scheme of shared parental leave must be truly flexible and easy to use.
Having looked at the initial proposals, the system is promising and the requirements to take leave do not seem insurmountable.
There will be a statutory right for fathers and partners to have unpaid time off work to attend up to two ante-natal appointments, capped at 6.5 hours per appointment. The right to two weeks’ paid paternity leave will remain.
Parental leave of up to 52 weeks can then be shared between the parents and hopefully may be taken together. Eligibility depends on parents meeting minimum requirements of actually being in work for a minimum number of weeks and receiving certain levels of income, but the eligibility requirements at present don’t seem unreasonable or unduly onerous.
As with any statutory right to time off work, there will be notice requirements to comply with; the employer needs to be able to manage the situation with sufficient notice, but these also seem fairly straightforward. 8 weeks’ notice will be required of an intention to take shared parental leave or pay and parents will be able to fill out a form, which we hope will be easy to follow. It seems employees won’t have to set out their plans for the entire entitlement to leave when they request their first period of leave, which shows genuine flexibility in the government’s approach.
A 2 week discussion period will then be granted once the 8 week notice is given by the parent/s so that the employee and employer can discuss the pattern of leave before it is signed off. The employer will therefore have at least 6 weeks to plan before leave starts. The patterns of leave and amount of leave can be changed and at present, the number of times parents can transfer leave and pay entitlements between them won’t be limited.
It does seem that the Government will be moving us towards a truly flexible system of parental leave, which subject to finalising the specifics of administration, will no doubt be welcomed by most employees with open arms in 2015.
Daniel Kindell - Solicitor
For further information on Employment Rights, please visit our website or call 0113 245 0733 and ask to speak with our Employment Rights team.
