The government has published the Children and Families Bill that will introduce shared parental leave and extend flexible working to all employees.
The bill will implement the parental leave and flexible working commitments the government made in November 2012 in its response to the Modern workplaces consultation.
Under the new measures, working mothers and fathers will be able to share parental leave following a child’s birth, prospective parents will be allowed to take more time off for antenatal appointments, leave and pay entitlements for adoptive parents will be brought more closely in line with those available to birth parents, while the right to request flexible working will be extended to all employees.
Jo Swinson, business minister, said: “Current workplace arrangements are old-fashioned and rigid. The Children and Families Bill will bring the way mums and dads balance their lives at work and at home into the 21st century.
“Employers will soon get used to more men taking time off after their child is born and more mothers returning to work earlier, shattering the perception that it is mainly a woman’s role to stay at home and look after the child. These measures will really help our aim of ensuring more businesses are making best use of women’s talents throughout the organisation, from the boardroom to the shop floor.
“The new system is good for business because it will create a more motivated and flexible, talented workforce. Employers will be able to attract and retain women and prevent them from dropping out of the world of work once they start a family. Flexible working will also help widen the pool of talent in the labour market, helping to drive growth.”
This new form of flexible parental leave marks a bold move away from the current highly gender-based and inflexible approach to parental leave, giving fathers much greater scope for taking extended leave after their baby’s birth.
Under current regulations, fathers can take two weeks’ leave around the time of birth; they can then take a further 26 weeks’ leave but only when the baby is 20 weeks old, and even then, only if the mother has returned to work. Under the new legislation parents will have much greater choice over how and when they take parental leave.
The changes will not be universally welcomed, however. It is less than two years since the last major change in this complicated area of law and few employers will look forward to yet another overhaul. One particularly complex issue will be how the new rules affect enhanced maternity pay schemes that are offered by many employers, and, in particular, whether equivalent enhancements will have to be offered to men who take flexible parental leave.
As for the plan to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees, this divides employers, with some strongly supportive and others feeling that the extension is a step too far. Concerned employers worry about how to deal with multiple and competing requests when not all can be accommodated. And although employees only have the right to ask their employer to consider flexible work arrangements, a decision to refuse a request can in some cases lead to claims of discrimination.
Shared parental leave can be a win-win for employers and employees, supporting working families while helping businesses to retain talent. For the benefits to be felt it must be simple to administer, especially for smaller firms.
The extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees reflects common practice in many workplaces. But businesses have to balance the needs of all their employees as well as customers, so they must retain the right to say no.
These changes are good for families and good for business. All our research and day-to-day work with our employer members shows that flexible working brings performance gains. Employers that allow flexible working benefit from better retention rates, reduced absenteeism, and from loyal and motivated employees.
We welcome the greater flexibility for parents to share the leave and pay in the first year of their baby’s life. Over time, these changes will change attitudes in the workplace, allow fathers more time to spend with their children, and start to tackle the maternity discrimination that so blights our helpline callers.