How will the
new rules work?
It has now been confirmed that from
April 2015, new mothers will be able to share leave arrangements with their
partner to care for a new born child. In order to do this, new mothers will
need to end their maternity leave early and will be able to convert the balance
of that leave into shared parental leave (SPL). This will allow families much
more flexibility to take leave from work in the early part of their child’s
life.
Shared parental leave will allow
eligible partners to be absent from work to care for a child for a maximum of
52 weeks. Whilst new mothers will still be entitled to two weeks off after
giving birth, the remaining 50 weeks of paid maternity leave can be split
between both parents in order to share the responsibilities for the upbringing
of the child.
A couple will be able to take leave
together, the mother could return to work and transfer the balance of her
maternity leave to her partner or the couple could even take leave in turns during
block periods, if their employer will agree to this. As an employer you will
not be able to refuse leave, but you will be able to refuse discontinuous
blocks of leave if they will not be suitable for the business. For instance if
an employee requests two four week periods, you can insist that they are taken
together as one eight week period to minimise disruption to your organisation.
New parents will need to be upfront
with employers if they decide to opt in to SPL. They will need to inform their
employer how they intend to use their leave and although this will not be
binding, it should make employers initially aware of the situation. They will
be required to give eight weeks’ notice to take specific periods of leave or
make changes to previous arrangements. They will also only be entitled to make
3 requests for SPL or changes to the leave.
Won’t this be confusing for
employers?
There are notice periods built in so
that employers can plan. The rules state that workers have to give a
non-binding indication of when they expect to take their allocated leave when
they initially inform their employer that they intend to take shared parental
leave.
With any maternity and paternity
leave, they will have to give notice at the end of the 15th week before the expected week of
child birth, or within seven days of a child being matched if they are
adopting.
Within the 52-week period, workers
will have to give at least eight weeks notice of the start date of their leave.
They will only be able to take three
separate sets of leave, or make three changes to the dates they plan to do so,
during the 52 weeks, unless otherwise agreed with their Employer.
Keeping
In Touch (KIT) Days
Each parent will be entitled to have
up to 20 ‘Keeping in Touch Days’ whilst on shared parental leave and it’s
important to note that this is in addition to the 10 KIT days that a new mother
is entitled to during her maternity leave.
Return to Work
Any employee returning to work after
maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave will have the right to
return to the same job providing that the leave totals 26 weeks or less. This
applies to workers that have taken leave in discontinuous blocks.
Why is this happening?
The change is designed to‘challenge
the old-fashioned assumption that women will always be the parent that stays
at home’.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “Women deserve the right to pursue their
goals and not feel they have to choose between having a successful career or
having a baby. They should be supported by their employers, rather than being
made to feel less employable or under pressure to take unchallenging jobs.”
“It
is already illegal to sack a woman because she is pregnant or on maternity
leave, but we want to go further than that. We want to create a fairer society
that gives parents the flexibility to choose how they share care for their
child in the first year after birth.”
Business Reaction to shared parental
leave plans
There has been a mixed response from
industry and business leaders to the Government proposals:
Mike Emmott, employee relations adviser at the
CIPD, said the proposals will allow mothers and fathers “significant flexibility to come up with arrangements for shared
parental leave that match their particular circumstances”.
Neil Carberry, director
of employment and skills at the CBI, said: “We
are pleased that the Government has listened to firms’ concerns about being
able to plan effectively around parental leave”.
“Businesses want to
support parents and need a workable and straightforward system so they can do
so.”
Tim Thomas, head of
employment and skills policy at the manufacturers’ organisation EEF, said: “Limiting the number of change requests,
encouraging employees to give upfront notification of their leave plans and
giving employers the option to ask for leave to be taken in a continuous block
will ensure that shared parental leave works for both businesses and parents.”
“However, we are still
concerned by proposals on the right to return to the same job, as employees’
roles can change frequently when companies need to make significant changes to
their business.”
TUC general secretary
Frances O’Grady said: “Unless it is
backed up with better pay, many couples simply won’t be able to afford to take
it. The Government’s own estimates suggest that just one in 20 dads would be
able to afford to take shared parental leave if it was paid at the current
statutory rate of just £137 per week.”
“By failing to give
parents the right to return to the same job after six months, the Government
has also missed an opportunity to prevent a constant source of pregnancy
discrimination, where mums returning to work find that their job has changed.”
“The
proposal will create confusion for employers and be a source of anxiety for
women who decide to take more than six months of pregnancy leave.”
The Tamar HR View
We look forward to receiving further
detail about these proposals so that we can help clients plan and implement the
changes in 2015. Further information is due to be published in early 2014 and
we can then begin thinking in more detail about how these changes will be
implemented in your company.
In our experience working with
clients, there is already a progressive and positive range of practice to
support working parents with their caring responsibilities outside of work.
This enables business to retain essential skills and talent which might
otherwise be lost if such flexibility did not exist. Of course, any system
needs to carefully balance the needs of the working parents with that of the
wider business.
We believe the early ‘up front’
notification requirements are a positive step so that businesses can plan in
plenty of time for Shared Parental Leave requests. Limiting the number of
change requests, and requiring any leave to be taken in continuous blocks
should assist employers in covering for workers who are absent, having
exercised their right to take Shared Parental Leave.
If you would like to know more about
shared parental leave, please don’t hesitate to contact one of the team here at
Tamar HR.
