Employers face new legal rights
Spring 2007
Many employers are worried about the implementation of new legal rights for working mothers and fathers. Research suggests that provisions in the Work and Families Act (WFA) are causing employers anxiety.
The Work and Families Act became law in June 2006. This amended current laws on maternity and adoption including introducing additional statutory paternity pay and leave. The detail of the law was left to regulations which are being introduced in stages from April 2007. The government sees the new legislation as ‘a balanced package of rights and responsibilities for both employers and employees’.
However, research among employers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and KPMG, suggests problems lie ahead. Almost two-thirds (64%) of employers surveyed think that the paternity leave provisions of the WFA 2006 will cause them either some (48%) or significant (16%) difficulties, while 57% think the maternity and adoption pay provisions will cause difficulties.
Attitudes towards extending the right to request flexible working are more positive. Only 4% of employers surveyed think that the new right for carers to request flexible working will cause them significant difficulties; 36% expect this to cause them some difficulty. However, a similar percentage (35%) are strongly in favour of extending the right to all employees, and only 13% are strongly against.
Only around 1 in 10 employers surveyed think that any of the provisions of the Act will be beneficial to their organisations. Smaller employers are more likely to cite potential difficulties and less likely to see potential benefits.
WFA Main Provisions
- Extend the maximum period for which statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance and statutory adoption pay are payable.
- Introduce ‘keeping in touch days’ so that, where employees and employers agree, a woman on maternity leave can go into work for a few days without losing her right to maternity leave and pay.
- Establish a new entitlement to fathers to take additional paternity leave to care for a child and to receive statutory pay if the mother returns to work before the end of her maternity leave period (this will not come into force until April 2008 at the earliest).
- Widen the scope of the existing law on flexible working to enable more people with caring responsibilities to request to work flexible hours.
- Extend workers’ statutory annual leave entitlement.
