According to The Telegraph’s article the Government will soon make substantial changes to the current number of days a father can take off work. The increase will be from two to six weeks’ paid leave. Fathers will also be able to use up some of the mothers’ entitlement, which could result in fathers being able to take five and a half months paid leave off work after the birth of their child.In addition to this, both parents would be able to take up to six months off at the same time, which may cause staffing problems for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The employer will not be able to refuse such a request.
Response to FT article about changes to paid maternity leave
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23-02-2011
Draft legislation has been passed by a committee of the European Parliament to extend maternity leave across Europe to 20 weeks on full pay. The proposal will now be put before the full European Parliament in early March.
At the moment in the UK, women get a year off, with the first six weeks at 90% pay followed by 33 weeks on Statutory Maternity Pay – the rest is unpaid. Such a change in the law could have a serious impact on business, with the Institute of Directors estimating that it could cost UK companies between £1.5bn and £2.0bn.
So what could the implications be? It has been suggested that it might discourage employers from taking women on.
