Firms urged to be ready for law changes to parental leave

EMPLOYERs could face more claims for sex discrimination when new laws overhauling maternity and paternity leave come into force, it was claimed yesterday.

Tom Watkins, of Dickinson Dees’ employment law team in Leeds, warned that companies needed to be prepared for the new system of shared parental leave.

Mr Watkins added: “The problem could arise if fathers who choose to take shared parental leave are not offered the same benefits as mothers, such as enhanced maternity and paternity pay.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“This would result in less favourable treatment on grounds of sex. Employers have until 2015 to consider how to revise their policies in order to avoid this risk.”

Mr Watkins also explained that under the current proposals, parents will each be able to take different periods of the shared parental leave, both consecutively and concurrently.

“That means a mother can take four weeks and then a father can take four weeks or they can both take time off together,” he said. “Clearly, although the new system is aimed at giving parents more flexibility about caring for their new-born children, this does in turn mean employers will need to be more flexible.

“I would advise employers very strongly to use the lead-in time before these provisions take effect to ensure that they put systems and policies in place to manage this leave effectively, ” he added.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Another change that is due to be introduced soon will give more rights to request flexible working. This will be extended to everyone with 26 weeks or more service, not just carers of dependents or children up to, but not including, the age of 18.

Mr Watkins warned: “Employers could be faced with a situation where employees make requests in different circumstances. One employee may have child care needs, while another may want to work flexibly to pursue other activities. Employers mustn’t fall into the trap of thinking they have to prioritise the needs of the individual who has child care needs over those of the other employee.” These significant changes can be found in the Children & Families Bill 2012-2013, which had its first reading in the House of Commons earlier this year. Regulations will also follow setting out the detail as to how the new rights will work in practice.

These new provisions regarding shared parental leave and pay will come into effect in 2015.

Gareth Dando, an associate, from Huddersfield-based law firm Ramsdens, said: “The proposals will provide a real challenge to employers who will have to deal with shared leave which could be broken into many blocks of time.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Further, it’s not currently clear what reasons, if any, an employer would have for rejecting a shared leave request.”

Simon Rice-Birchall, a partner at Eversheds, said he believed employers were likely to be safe, in terms of preparing for the changes, if they have two regimes in place – one for maternity leave and one for shared parental leave, provided the regime for shared parental leave is the same for men and women.

Matthew Lewis, employment partner at Squire Sanders, said: “We are moving towards a working environment where employers will need to be flexible.”

Related topics: