A welcome step towards equality at work and at home and full steam ahead on flexible working
Working Families response to the Government’s announcement today on flexible parental leave and flexible working.
Working Families welcomes the plans announced today to introduce flexible parental leave so that fathers and mothers can choose how they share leave in the first year after a child’s birth. However Working Families is disappointed that plans to extend fathers’ individual rights to leave have been shelved. Working Families has warmly welcomed the extension of flexible working rights as a tool for business success (see press release comment issued 11.11.12 summarised below).
Sarah Jackson, Chief Executive of Working Families commented: “The shared leave proposals are a welcome step towards greater equality at work and at home. Families will benefit from more choice about which parent stays at home to care for a new baby. While few low income couples will be able to afford both parents taking time off at once, the ability to transfer leave to the father will be particularly welcomed by couples where the mother is the higher earner and it makes financial sense for her to return and the father to take over the care. We are particularly pleased that the Government has listened to our concerns about their original proposals and made sure that women’s employment rights are protected.
“We hope that the new shared leave will not only change the conversation around the kitchen table but contribute to culture change in the workplace. We know from our helpline that too many women are discriminated against at work due to pregnancy and maternity. More men taking time out may challenge employers’ assumptions and help deliver more equality in the workplace too.
”However, it is disappointing that the opportunity has not been taken to extend fathers’ individual rights to leave, as international evidence shows that, along with adequate pay levels, earmarked leave for fathers would encourage take up. More fathers’ leave would be welcomed by the increasing number of fathers who want to spend more time with their children. We will be pressing for further amendments to the proposals before they become law.
“Extending unpaid parental leave to parents of older children will help many families struggling to fill gaps in holiday childcare, or who need time out to help their child through a difficult time.”
Carolanne Minashi, Head of Diversity, Employee Relations and Employee Engagement EMEA at Citi, (global banking group with more than 8500 employees in the UK and a joint winner of Working Families Top Employers for Fathers award 2012) said: “We welcome the shared parental leave proposals. We already provide a number of programmes to support fathers to spend time with their child in the first year because we know that treating our employees well helps retention and motivation. We know our fathers have high levels of engagement and feel supported in their efforts to have a good work-life balance. Good packages for fathers will soon become as important as mothers in attracting the best talent.”
Commenting on the flexible working extension, Sarah Jackson said: “Working Families has long campaigned for the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees so this is great news. Many businesses already offer the right to all employees because it leads to performance gains. The Government’s own assessment shows the extension will bring a net benefit of £222.5 million to employers through increased productivity and through savings from reduced sickness, absenteeism and recruitment costs. Flexible working is an essential tool for business success.
“Families too will benefit when more workplaces adopt flexible working as the norm. Many parents still struggle to get the flexible hours they need to balance their work and caring responsibilities, and everyone needs some flexibility at some time during their working lives. There could not be a better time to boost the UK’s performance by changing the way we work to enable all employees to perform at their best.”
More Information
1 Working Families is the UK’s leading work-life organisation. The charity supports and gives a voice to working parents and carers, whilst also helping employers create workplaces which encourage work-life balance for everyone
2 Proposals to introduce flexible parental leave and extend the right to request flexible working to all employees were included in the Coalition Agreement and set out in the Modern Workplace Consultation by BIS which closed in August 2011
3 Fathers had hoped to gain an extra four weeks of leave under Modern Workplaces proposals. This final response does not offer further paternity leave. Paternity leave is paid at a flat rate (currently £135.45 per week) and only half of fathers who take paternity leave take their full two weeks’ entitlement now (DWP Research Report 777 Maternity and Paternity Rights and Women Returners, 2011). Working Families survey of fathers found 70 per cent of those who did not take leave said it was because they could not afford it. Working Families believes that access to shared leave will help challenge assumptions, but we will continue to press for better paid paternity leave and improvements to eligibility criteria to ensure more fathers can take it up.
4 The revised model of leave announced today allows parents the same flexibility to share leave and take leave concurrently from the birth as the proposals set out in Modern Workplaces consultation. However, the government have responded to concerns raised by Working Families and other members of the Working Parents Group about plans to reduce maternity leave. Under the model announced today women will be assumed to take the full 52 weeks of maternity leave, 39 weeks of which will be paid, as now unless they choose to share the leave with their partner and notify both their employers accordingly.
5 The rationale for the flexible working extension in the Modern Workplaces consultation was to “help employers to recruit, motivate and retain their workforces, and so build successful businesses as well as increasing productivity”. The accompanying impact assessment showed a net benefit to employers of £222.5 million from the change. The consultation proposed that the procedures and timetable for making and responding to a flexible working request be removed from primary legislation. There will be a statutory Code of Practice to guide employers instead of the procedures. However, the right to request and the eight statutory business reasons for refusing a request will remain.
The Working Families Freephone legal helpline for parents, carers and their advisers gives advice on employment rights and benefits. The helpline is run by a team of solicitors and advisers and has a Quality Mark from Community Legal Services. Call free on 0300 012 0312, text 07800 00 4722 or e-mail advice@workingfamilies.org.uk
