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The government hopes to
extend that to a full year
by the end of the current
parliament. The changes
will benefit an estimated
400,000 working mothers
and their families each
year. In return, if the
employee wants to change
her date of return then
she must give her employee
8 weeks notice of change.
If she is still going back
on the date she initially
told her employer there is
no need to give anymore
notice of the date of
return.
Employers will also be
allowed to make reasonable
contact with women on
maternity leave to help
with planning and easing
their return to work.
It’s hoped that employers
and staff will benefit
from better communication
during maternity leave.
There will also be up to
ten “keeping in touch
days” which will allow
mothers to return to work
occasionally without
losing out on maternity
pay or automatically
bringing their leave to an
end.
The idea of the days is to
enable women to keep up to
date with developments or
to benefit from extra
training. These days are
not obligatory on either
side and need only take
place where both the
employer and the mother
think they would be
useful. They’re intended
to help smooth the woman’s
return to work when her
maternity leave ends.
The new regulations also
simplify the
administration of
maternity payments by
allowing employers to
bring them into line with
their normal payroll
systems.
There is also help for the
carers of dependent adults
as they will be able to
request flexible working
hours. However, although
the employer must give
this serious
consideration, it is not
an automatic right.
A carer is defined as an
employee looking after an
adult who is married to,
or the partner or civil
partner of that employee.
It could also include a
near relative of the
employee or someone who
falls into neither
category but lives at the
same address as the
employee.
The "near relative"
definition includes
parents, parents-in-law,
adult child, adopted adult
child, siblings (including
those who are in-laws),
uncles, aunts or
grandparents and
step-relatives. It’s
estimated that this should
include about 80% of all
carers.
The most controversial
part of the Act concerning
paternity leave is yet to
come into force. Fathers
are currently entitled to
two weeks paternity leave
but the Act could soon
extend that.
It will enable them to
benefit from leave and
statutory pay if the
mother returns to work
after six months but
before the end of her
maternity leave period.
She will effectively be
able to transfer some of
her leave to her partner.
It is estimated that
between 240,000 and
280,000 fathers will
benefit from this.
The additional period of
paternity leave for
fathers will be introduced
at the same time as the
extension of Statutory
Maternity Pay, Adoption
Pay and Maternity
Allowance to 12 months.
This is unlikely to be
before 2008. It is this
extension to paternity
leave that has most
concerned many employers.
A survey by the
Chartered Institute of
Personnel and Development
revealed that nearly two
thirds of firms thought
that the provisions would
cause them difficulties
while the Federation of
Small Businesses described
them as a nightmare.
There’s little doubt that
the new measures will
place extra
responsibilities on
businesses but if
employers put the right
procedures in place as
soon as possible then that
would greatly reduce the
chances of any serious
problems developing. The
Equal Opportunities
Commission has monitored
the treatment of women in
the workplace and
concluded that, as is so
often the case in
employment law issues,
ignorance rather than any
real prejudice is at the
heart of most
misunderstandings and
difficulties.
Jenny Watson, Chair of the
Equal Opportunities
Commission said: "The
EOC's investigation into
pregnancy discrimination
in the workplace found
that a lack of awareness
of the law, and of good
practice, is often at the
root of the problem.
Sally Laughton is an
employment expert at
Andersons Solicitors. She
can be contacted by
emailing
Sally Laughton
or calling 0115 988 6716
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Carly Williams. | 
