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The Government yesterday launched a consultation around flexible working, parental leave, equal pay and working time regulations.

Parental Leave

Stephen Gummer, Head of Employment and Pensions at PwC Legal, commented:

"The proposal to turn the greater part of maternity leave into flexible parental leave available to both the mother and father raises challenges. The proposal could increase the existing burden on employers who already may have to get to grips with the administrative practicalities of shared leave with other businesses. They will need to address how to provide for the aimed flexibility, particularly as the leave may be taken in chunks, whilst running their businesses effectively. These employers may well have very different systems, policies and attitudes, so it's unlikely to be plain sailing. There are likely to be calls for parents to give greater notice of what leave they're planning to take and when, so businesses can better plan for the absence.

For employers the fear is that, combined with the flexible working proposals, this is the 'thin end of the wedge'. The Government wants its proposals around reducing employment red tape to all fit together, but it's hard to see how some of these flexible working suggestions fit with the goal of a 'stable workforce for a stable economy.'"

Flexible working

Stephen Gummer, Head of Employment and Pensions at PwC Legal, commented:

"What sound like sensible ideas on flexible working are likely to be tougher to put into practice. Extending the right to work flexibly to all will mean that employers will need to think carefully about the grounds on which they accept or refuse requests. Such requests will come not just from those with a "protected characteristic" but from across the whole workforce. A statutory code of practice may be published which employers will have to take into account. It will need to tackle difficult issues, such as how to prioritise between several workers who are all looking to work flexibly for different reasons and whether an employer has the right to change existing arrangements to allow new (and possibly more deserving) applicants access to flexible arrangements. This is all in a situation where emotions can run high and the cost of getting it wrong is potentially considerable".

Equal Pay

Stephen Gummer, Head of Employment and Pensions at PwC Legal, commented:

"Proposals to force employers to conduct a pay audit if they have been found to have discriminated against an employee extend the Government’s repeated objective to remove the gender pay gap. Employers who ignore the current voluntary regime do so at their peril, particularly as these proposals relate not just to equal pay claims, but discrimination claims as well. The Government’s focus is clearly on employers who are not currently complying with the mandatory regime. Employers who act now to comply with the current voluntary pay reporting regime and undertake equal pay audits will be best placed to avoid having to publish data before they know what it contains."

Holiday leave and pay

Stephen Gummer, Head of Employment and Pensions at PwC Legal, commented:

"The consultation includes proposals to amend legislation governing statutory holiday. Recent European case law means that amendments were necessary to allow holiday to be carried over where a worker has not been able to take it because they were ill or on family leave (e.g. maternity leave). It seems that the government has sought to reduce the impact on employers, while still giving UK employees their European rights. The proposals set out a cap of the holiday that can be carried over. They also include a new right for employers, in certain circumstances, to buy out untaken leave or make employees carry over leave to a more convenient time. Overall, these proposed amendments to the holiday legislation are welcome."