Employment Law Cases

No matter which government party you vote for, few families would complain of the new government proposals to increase the amount of time off fathers are allowed for paternity leave. At present, the mother is allowed one year of maternity leave with 39 paid weeks, whilst the father is only allowed two paid weeks. Under a new government proposal, mothers would be allowed to transfer the last three months of their paid maternity leave over to their partner, so that the father could spend three months paid leave with their baby whilst the mum goes back to work. There has already been some major reaction to this proposal even though it has not yet been officially announced. This article will look at some of the benefits and some of the negatives of the plan.

There are many benefits to his new proposal from the view of families, both on the mother’s and the father’s side. It gives new dads a chance to get more involved with bringing up their baby, a chance to bond and learn about looking after a baby full time. For mothers, there has been a lot of discussion in the press about a mother’s conflict between their devotion to their baby and their desire to get back to work and a bit of time to themselves. This allows mothers to get back to work without feeling as though they are abandoning their baby. They know that there is no nanny or nursery looking after them but their partner, the father of the child.

The negatives are solely from a business point of view. Businesses have been quick to point out how much this will cost them and the possibilities that families will fraud businesses by telling the employer that the mother is back at work whilst in reality both parents remain at home with the baby. The latter argument comes from the fact that there will be no official checks by the government with the mother’s employers. The former argument comes from business leaders who have estimated that the new scheme will cost businesses approximately £25 billion. However, small firms will be able to reclaim 100% of the costs and larger firms will be able to reclaim 92% of the costs. So, although there will be a loss, for smaller businesses this will not be a nail in the coffin.

What do you think about the proposal? If you have any questions about family law, employment law or paternity leave you can get in touch with a solicitor.