The Government has announced plans for more employment law reform to allow parents to share up to a year's leave after the birth of a child. The Government views the current arrangements as old-fashioned, inflexible and gender-biased, stating that everyone should have the right to choose how they balance their work and family commitments.
Under the new system, parents will be able to choose how they share the care of their child. Mothers will still be able to take a maximum of 52 weeks of leave after the birth of the child However, the changes will allow mothers to be able to start ‘flexible leave’ at any point after the first two weeks of the birth giving Parents much greater flexibility about how they ‘mix and match’ their leave. They may take it in turns or take it together, providing it is not more than 52 weeks in total.
The plan is to introduce the changes to flexible working in 2014 and to flexible parental leave in 2015. It will mean every business will now have to be aware of, and monitor, leave and flexible working much more closely.
The Governments view the planned reform as good news not only for parents and parents-to-be, but employers too who will benefit from a much more flexible and motivated workforce.
Do you agree, or will it create another administrative burden especially for the small business?
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