The Government
today launched a consultation on plans to introduce a new system
of flexible parental leave from 2015 as part of its plans to
create a modern workplace for the modern economy.
Current regulations are too rigid, reflect outdated notions of
parenting and family responsibilities and restrict employers.
Ministers want to help parents and business by giving them much
greater choice and flexibility.
Under the proposals, once the early weeks of maternity and
paternity leave have ended, parents will be able to share the
overall leave allowance between them. Unlike the current system
this leave could be taken in a number of different blocks and both
parents could take leave at the same time. Crucially employers
would have the ability to ensure that the leave must be taken in
one continuous period if agreement can not be reached. They will
be able to ask staff to return for short periods to meet peaks in
demand or to require that leave is taken in one continuous block,
depending on business needs.
The `Modern Workplaces’ consultation seeks to build a new
consensus around greater flexibility, which also includes plans to
extend the right to request flexible working to all employees.
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. And
employers should be encouraged to come to agreement with employees
on how work and family responsibilities can be met simultaneously.
“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.
“Of course I’m mindful of the need to minimise the costs,
bureaucracy and complexities on businesses. This has been at the
forefront of my mind throughout the development of our proposals.
So we will ensure that businesses will still be able to take into
account their needs when agreeing how leave can be taken. But I’m
also confident that we have a good case to make on the wider
benefits to business - not least from a motivated and flexible
workforce and we will be making this case to employers over the
next few years before these changes are introduced.”
Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities Theresa May
said:
“Britain’s workplace laws are in need of modernisation. We have
made great strides in addressing explicit discrimination in the
workplace, but disadvantage persists. The solution to these
challenges, though, is not more bureaucracy, top-down intervention
and politically correct quotas, but policies that go with the
grain of human nature and maximise flexibility and choice. That is
why we will extend the right to request flexible working to all
and introduce a new system of flexible parental leave both of
which will contribute to our commitment to closing down the gender
pay gap. But where there is evidence of discrimination we will
punish it, so we will introduce mandatory pay audits for companies
that are found guilty of pay discrimination.”
Work and Pensions Minister, Maria Miller said:
“For far too long flexible working has been dismissed as a burden
on business, when in fact the most successful businesses
understand the important role it can play in recruiting and
retaining the right staff. We need to move flexible working away
from being the exception, to being considered a normal way to
work.
“With more people working past retirement and more disabled
people wanting to get into work, flexible working is something
most people will want to consider at some point in their working life.”
The landmark consultation is the latest step in the Government’s
comprehensive review of employment law. It has already removed the
Default Retirement Age and published plans to reform the way in
which workplace disputes are resolved. Ministers want to make it
easier for businesses to employ people, grow and boost
opportunities but also for people to balance work and family
commitments.
Today’s consultation includes the following proposals:
Flexible Parental Leave
18 weeks maternity leave and pay – in one continuous block
around birth.Four weeks of parental leave and pay exclusive to
each parent to be taken in the first year.30 weeks of additional
parental leave available to either parent - of which 17 weeks
would be paid and can be broken in blocks between parents.
Flexible Working
Extending the right to request for all workers who have been
with their employer for 26 weeks. The Government will consider
publishing a statutory Code of Practice for businesses and will
propose that employers should be allowed to take into account
employees individual circumstances when considering conflicting
requests. There are no plans to alter the current 8 business
reasons for a business to turn down a request. The Government
recognises that legislation is not the only answer to promoting
flexible working practices. Non-legislative measures are being
developed to promote flexible working opportunities both for those
with a job and for those looking for one.
Equal Pay
Employment Tribunals that have found an employer to have
discriminated on gender in relation to pay, will order the
employer to conduct a pay audit and publish their results. Except
in some circumstances, such as where an audit has already been
conducted.
Notes to editors:
1. Further information, including the consultation document, can
be found here
http://www.bis.gov.uk/modernworkplaces . The consultation
runs from 16 May to 8 August 2011.
2. Under the new proposals fathers would continue to receive two
weeks paternity leave and pay in one continuous block around
birth.
3. Paid leave would be at the standard rate (currently £128.73)
with the exception of the first six weeks of maternity leave which
would be at 90% of the employee’s salary. The new system would see
total leave in year one between parents increased from 54 to 58
weeks. These proposals are subject to affordability.
4. Currently employed mothers receive a long period of maternity
leave and pay (52 weeks leave of which 39 weeks are paid).
Employed fathers receive much less (two paid weeks). This system
is inflexible and does not support shared parenting. Today’s
proposals would supersede Additional Paternity Leave measures
introduced on the 3 April 2011. Additional Paternity leave gives
employed fathers a right to up to six months extra leave which can
be taken once the mother has returned to work after 20 weeks. Some
of the leave may be paid if taken during the mother’s maternity
pay period. This is paid at 90% of earnings up to the same
standard rate as Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) which is currently
£128.73. Further information can be found here -
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Moneyandworkentitlements/WorkAndFamilies/Paternityrightsintheworkplace/DG_190788
5. Employed parents currently have a right to 13 weeks unpaid
leave per parent per child, which can be taken before the child’s
5 th birthday. In line with the revised Parental Leave Directive
2010, this would be extended to 18 weeks unpaid parental leave.
This entitlement is in addition to the flexible parental leave
described above.
6. Currently 50% of fathers take two weeks of formal leave during
paternity leave. Over 90% of fathers take time off around the time
of their child birth. Over 80% use some statutory paternity leave;
of these half use paternity leave exclusively - and a further 30%
combine it with other types of leave.
7. Additional measures in the consultation include changes to:
Working Time Regulations (WTR) – proposals to
amend the WTR so that annual leave entitlements can be
rescheduled, and carried over to the next leave year, when a
worker falls ill during planned annual leave. We are proposing to
limit this to the four weeks of Working Time Directive leave. We
also intend to amend the WTR to allow the carry over of annual
leave due to maternity, paternity, parental or adoption leave –
this will include the full 5.6 weeks of leave entitlement per
year. The consultation also seeks views on giving businesses
greater flexibility around annual leave, by allowing them to buy
out untaken leave and also allowing carry over of leave on
justifiable business grounds (this would only apply to the 1.6
weeks of domestic statutory leave). Full guidance will be produced
prior to the WTR changes coming into force.
8. Direct Gov has a comprehensive explanation of parents rights
in the workplace -
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Moneyandworkentitlements/WorkAndFamilies/index.htm
9. BIS's online newsroom contains the latest press
notices, speeches, as well as video and images for download. It
also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See
http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom for more information.
Contacts:
BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Henry Tanner
Phone: 020 7215 5947
henry.tanner@bis.gsi.gov.uk