A Modern Approach to Parental Leave

Tuesday 13 November 2012

This week, Government Ministers have announced details of their proposals for a new, more flexible approach to parental leave in order to reflect working arrangements in modern day families.

The proposals aim to introduce the ability for both parents to take parental leave together, or in turns, and have a legal right to request flexible working.

These proposals come after a consultation process that took place last year whereby Ministers recognised the need for flexible working and parental leave for both parents.

Currently, new mothers are entitled to a maximum of 52 weeks statutory maternity leave, whereas fathers are entitled to only two weeks.

Changes were made in April 2011, enabling fathers to take up to six months leave after the baby is 20 weeks old, allowing parents to share some of the 52 weeks’ leave. However, parents are restricted in that each period of leave can be taken only in a single block, which does not allow for any flexibility.

Under the new proposals, set to be introduced in 2015, “flexible leave” can be triggered at any point after the first 2 weeks of the child being born. After this point, the parents will have the flexibility to share the remaining 50 weeks of leave as they wish, enabling parents to take leave at the same time or in turns and for periods of time that suits them.

Ministers have considered reviewing the amount of statutory paternity leave that a father is entitled to, however such proposals have been put on hold until 2018 due to fears that the economy is too weak at present to allow such a change.

For many, the reforms will be welcomed and will certainly allow for parents to ‘tailor’ their leave in a way that suits their family set-up. However, critics cannot help wonder whether extended rights to flexible working hours will introduce even more pressure on businesses that are already suffering in the current economic climate.

Only time will tell!