The government believes that the current rules on parental leave are too rigid, and restrict employers and are based on out-dated ideas of parenting and family responsibilities.
So, to create a new system of which it says will be more family friendly and give better work-life balance, the government has made the following proposals:
Flexible parental leave
The government wants to replace the current first-year leave entitlement with:
- four months maternity leave around birth (plus two weeks paternity leave)
- one month paid for the mother, one month paid for the father – ‘daddy/mummy month’
- seven months flexible parental leave (four months of which will be paid)
The government also wants to allow parents and employers to agree on how parental leave can be taken, and it thinks that this should include working on a part-time basis, too.
Flexible working changes
The proposed changes will extend the right to request flexible working to all employees, which will make the workplace a lot fairer to those who do not have children aged up to18 years (and stop back-biting when mums take flexible working). The government is consulting on whether to:
- replace the current procedure for considering requests with a principles-based approach
- let employers take into account employees’ individual circumstances when considering conflicting requests
- keep the current 26-week qualifying period for the right to request flexible working
- exempt micro businesses (i.e. very small businesses) and start-ups from the extension to the right to request flexible working (during the three-year freeze on regulations for such businesses, which was confirmed in the Budget).
Bridging the gender pay gap
- employers found guilty of sexual discrimination in relation to pay will have to carry out a pay audit and publish their results (except in some circumstances, such as where an audit has already been held).
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Our proposals will encourage greater choice by giving employees and their employers the flexibility to find arrangements to suit them both. New parents should be able to choose their childcare arrangements for themselves, rather than being dictated to by rigid government regulation as is currently the case.
“These measures are fairer for fathers and maintain the existing entitlements for mothers – but crucially give parents much greater choice over how to balance their work and family commitments.â€
Have your say
To read the proposals in full, and to have your say, follow this link – you only have until on 8 August 2011 to act: http://www.bis.gov.uk/modernworkplaces
