The Lion's Share?
16 I 09 I 09
Helen Iles
Having promised extended
paternity rights in 2005, the Government yesterday announced its
proposal to allow
parents to share family
friendly entitlements from April 2011, so that fathers will be able
to take up to six months’ paternity leave.
In practice this proposal
enables mothers to return to work after six months and transfer
their unused six months of maternity leave to fathers, so that they
can stay at home for the rest of the 12 month leave period allowed
by law.
The first six months of
maternity leave will remain “female only” and it will not be
transferable but the new right gives fathers a statutory
entitlement of up to three months’ paid and three months’ unpaid
leave, in contrast to the maximum fortnight’s paid leave that they
currently enjoy.
This proposal has the
potential to significantly change the mother's post-pregnancy year
as she would be able to divide the leave period with her child's
father.
However, the practical
impact for employers appears to be less positive, with the
Federation of Small Businesses stating that organisations are
anxious about the increased administrative burden, the paperwork
and disruption, rather than the time fathers are likely to take
off.
There is also concern
over who will be responsible for regulating the new system. It has
been suggested that new fathers will be allowed to sign themselves
off for six months with no eligibility checks by the Government.
Whilst they should only be entitled to take the time off if
their partner has gone back to work, the current proposal suggests
that no official checks will be made with the mother's employer.
This has prompted fears that organisations could be duped by
fathers whose partners have not really returned to the
workplace.
Despite this practical
wrangling, Government forecasts suggest that fewer than one in 10
of the estimated 239,000 eligible fathers each year would take
advantage of the new right initially, and that just one in 137
small businesses will be affected.
However, as employees
become more familiar with their rights, it is likely that this
proportion will increase over time. As such, employers are advised
to adopt an approach of prevention rather than cure, and review
their family friendly policies and effectively communicate all
changes, in plenty of time for the advent of the new rules.
George Burns once said
“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring,
close-knit family in another city.” Extended family friendly rights look set to
try and dispel such cynicism by adopting a flexible approach and
creating more choice for parents: watch this space to see whether
or not the proposal achieves it aims and the impact it has on
businesses.