Paternal leave set to be extended

Under the proposals outlined by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills , fathers will be able to take an additional four weeks leave during their child’s first year, on top of the two weeks paid paternity leave already in place, which the Government say they hope will ‘incentivise greater involvement by fathers in the early stages of a child’s life.’

The four weeks leave will also be available to mothers, along with the full 52 weeks maternity leave, if they wish to take it. If the mother goes back to work, the father could be entitled to take a total of seven months shared leave, four of which will be paid. Unlike the current system, this shared leave could be taken in a number of different blocks, agreed by the employer.

The new rules set out in the Consultation on Modern Workplaces, which will supersede the current system for additional paternity leave and pay, will also allow parents to take unpaid leave beyond the first year of a child’s life and for father’s to take time off to attend antenatal appointments.

Just last month the Government introduced a shared parental leave system to allow the second six months of a mother’s maternity leave to be transferred to the father if she returns to work (News 4 February 2010).

The new guidelines, which aim to create a culture of flexible, family-friendly employment practices, outline plans for a system of flexible parental leave, a right for all employees to request flexible working and measures to encourage equal pay for men and women.

Other proposals include:

•    Introducing 18 weeks maternity leave and pay to be used in one continuous block around birth.
•    Extending the right to request flexible working for all workers who have been with their employer for 26 weeks.
•    Publishing a statutory Code of Practice for businesses, which will propose that employers should be allowed to take into account employees individual circumstances when considering conflicting requests.