Warning of maternity pay cuts if leave changed

Proposed changes to parental leave could result in half of all working mothers suffering cuts in their maternity pay, the TUC warned yesterday.

The union body warned that plans to weaken the right to request flexible working risked giving the green light to employers to abandon family-friendly practices.

The warning came in the TUC’s submission to a Government consultation, ending yesterday, on proposals to allow mothers and fathers to share parental leave.

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Under the changes – due to come into effect in 2015 – once the early weeks of maternity and paternity leave have ended, parents will be able to share their overall leave allowance between them, dividing it up in the way that suits them best.

The TUC raised concerns that mothers could lose out financially if the current 52-week statutory maternity leave is replaced by an 18-week period of designated leave for mothers, after which time at home can be shared between parents.

Nearly 60 per cent of working mothers currently receive contractual maternity pay above the statutory minimum – the vast majority of them for 26 weeks, said the TUC.

Reducing the designated period to 18 weeks could lead mean-spirited employers to slash costs by reducing the length of contractual maternity pay too, it warned, urging the Government to set the designated period at 26 weeks.

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TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “While Ministers deserve credit for suggesting new family-friendly policies such as longer periods of fathers’ leave, other proposals on flexible working could undermine this and turn the clock back.

“Weakening the right to request flexible working will give bad employers the wrong message.

“The Government should remember how successful and popular this right has been for parents over the last decade and put their needs ahead of the same old carping from business lobbyists.

“The Government also needs to steer clear of such large reductions in the designated period of maternity leave.”

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