Have your say on introduction of paternity leave

The government is seeking the views of employers and employees on the introduction of new rules on paternity leave which will entitle fathers to six months at home with their children if the mother decides to return to work early.

The Work and Families Act, which came into effect in April, has already produced some key improvements for working mothers. It extends statutory maternity pay, statutory adoption pay and maternity allowance from six to nine months. It’s intended to increase that to 12 months by the end of the current parliament.

Mothers will receive 90% of their full salary for six weeks, and then a maximum of £112.75 a week for the remainder of their leave. This statutory entitlement is paid by employers who then claim it back from the Treasury.

The next phase of the Act will see much greater rights for fathers. Employment Relations Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said: "We know that people want greater flexibility to better juggle their work and family life and that fathers increasingly want to play a bigger part in the upbringing of their children."

"If a mother wants to return to work before her child's first birthday, the father will be able to take some, or all, of the second half of the child's first year as paid paternity leave. For the first time ever, this will give parents the flexibility to divide a period of paid leave between them. Parents will be able to decide how to best balance work and family commitments.”

It is estimated that between 250,000 fathers will benefit from being able to take up to 26 weeks paid paternity leave. In addition, it’s also intended that civil partners of mothers and members of adopting couples who meet the eligibility criteria should also qualify for additional paternity leave and pay.

These new provisions should be introduced by the end of this parliament and at the same time as extending maternity leave to 12 months. The earliest this could happen would be for babies due in April 2009, but this is not yet a definite date.

Now the Government is seeking views on how the administration of additional paternity leave and pay will work in practice. It particularly wants feedback on whether the father and mother should be able to self-certify themselves for the scheme. It’s thought this would make the process more straightforward for businesses and so easier to administer.

There’s also the question of how the scheme can best be made to work in practice and to what extent new official forms would provide firms with more confidence to administer the scheme effectively at the same time as encouraging employees to participate in it.

The measures have been criticised by the Federation of Small Business which says many firms are already drowning in red tape and it is not helpful to families to provide them with benefits that could cost parents their jobs. The Federation’s national chairman, Carol Undy, said: “Small businesses are often in the vanguard of new family-friendly policies as the workers and the boss are usually in the same room. They can therefore work out ways of working to suit the work/life balance much more easily than in a large business.

“However, when the Government gets involved in this equation it can create antagonism that was not present before. What was once a good-natured compromise becomes a confrontation.

“Family-friendly policies are no doubt done with the best of intentions but implementation must be done carefully - with the needs of employers fully considered - if the economic well-being of the country is not to be put at risk. Restricting small business growth will cost jobs and that will benefit no-one.”

It’s not only firms who are concerned. Many fathers may be put off taking their full entitlement for fear of damaging their career prospects by appearing not to be sufficiently committed to work.

Some may even fear being subjected to undue pressure by their bosses not to take the full time owing to them.

It would be unwise for any business to take such an approach, however, or place any obstacle in the way of parents wanting to take their full entitlement. Any suggestion of undue pressure could result in costly and time-consuming compensation claims.

It is imperative that firms should understand the legislation and implement it fully. In the meantime, however, they do have the chance to raise their concerns during the DTI’s consultation process.

Sally Laughton is a member of the Andersons Solicitors Employment Team. Sally can be contacted on 0115 988 6736 or by emailing slaughton@andersonssolicitors.co.uk.