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| New paternity leave rules affecting men come into force | New paternity leave rules affecting men come into force |
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| New paternity leave rules have come into effect meaning that parents will be legally entitled to share time off work during their baby's first year. | New paternity leave rules have come into effect meaning that parents will be legally entitled to share time off work during their baby's first year. |
| The move means parents could take six months off work each. | The move means parents could take six months off work each. |
| The government hopes to extend the measures with a fully flexible system of shared parental leave in 2015. | The government hopes to extend the measures with a fully flexible system of shared parental leave in 2015. |
| However, the Federation of Small Businesses said a one-size-fits-all approach did not work and added to the administrative burden on small firms. | However, the Federation of Small Businesses said a one-size-fits-all approach did not work and added to the administrative burden on small firms. |
| A survey of 1,300 firms by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) showed that over half believed giving extra paternity leave to fathers would be detrimental. | |
| Earlier this year Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg outlined plans to press ahead with changes, first proposed by the previous government. | Earlier this year Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg outlined plans to press ahead with changes, first proposed by the previous government. |
| Continuous contract | Continuous contract |
| The new rules mean a man will gain the right to additional paternity leave and pay. The rules also cover adoption. | The new rules mean a man will gain the right to additional paternity leave and pay. The rules also cover adoption. |
| Compared with their larger rivals, small firms are disproportionately affected by Additional Paternity Leave - not because it is expensive (the annual cost in Britain is estimated at £3-15m in total) but because of the extra burden on an SME's administration. Most firms with staff of less than 10 simply don't have a HR department to process claims and arrange cover. | |
| That burden is unlikely to get any easier in the coming years. The coalition is looking into creating a new fully flexible system for both parents of newborns by 2015. That will be welcomed by many professionals and fathers in particular - many of whom cannot afford to take their paternity leave, which from today is a very modest £128 per week. | |
| Furthermore the EU Parliament is trying to raise the bar for all 27 member states which would create longer parental leave and more generous benefits. Happy parents. Grumpy bosses. | |
| Additional paternity leave (APL) will allow an employee to take up to 26 weeks' leave to care for the child, on top of two weeks of ordinary paternity leave. | Additional paternity leave (APL) will allow an employee to take up to 26 weeks' leave to care for the child, on top of two weeks of ordinary paternity leave. |
| This can only be taken 20 or more weeks after the child's birth or placement for adoption, and once the mother has returned to work from statutory maternity or adoption leave or ended her entitlement. | This can only be taken 20 or more weeks after the child's birth or placement for adoption, and once the mother has returned to work from statutory maternity or adoption leave or ended her entitlement. |
| The rate is £128.73 a week, or 90% of average weekly earnings if that is less. | |
| To qualify, the father must have been on a continuous contract with his employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due. | To qualify, the father must have been on a continuous contract with his employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due. |
| The BCC said the paternity leave rules, coming into force at the same time as the phasing out of the default retirement age, were too much to cope with. | |
| Director general David Frost said: "In the face of promises by the government to listen to the needs of business and cut red tape, these two new pieces of employment regulation will hit businesses hard." | |
| The default retirement age means people are no longer expected to leave their posts by the current retirement age of 65 for men and 60 for women. | |
| The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, welcomed the change to paternity leave. | |
| He said: "Good employers should have nothing to fear from these employment changes, which have been consulted on extensively over the last few years." | |
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| as a future father to be living in a different part of the country as my partner (due to job commitment) I welcome the changes as in a perfect world I would move job however that would be foolish as my job is secure, or my partner would have to move away from her entire family and support network at least this way we can both be there for our baby in those first difficult months then re-locate | |
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| I think it's a great idea to balance out the unfairness heaped on women of child bearing age that no boss of a small company in their right minds would give them a job. Now the odds of having someone trained up only to disappear and threaten the viability of your business have doubled as it may be the Father doing it as much as the Mother | |
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| That’s wonderful, I run a small business and I have 1 employee. thanks | That’s wonderful, I run a small business and I have 1 employee. thanks |
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| I think its a fabulous idea, especially for women in skilled jobs so they can have say 3-4mths off and then back to work (so they don't entirely deskill) and the partner could say have 2 mths off when the baby is a bit older and less reliant on Mum. However I don't think this will work for families where the Dad is the higher wage earner. Hopefully it would mean lower number of sick days from Dads | I think its a fabulous idea, especially for women in skilled jobs so they can have say 3-4mths off and then back to work (so they don't entirely deskill) and the partner could say have 2 mths off when the baby is a bit older and less reliant on Mum. However I don't think this will work for families where the Dad is the higher wage earner. Hopefully it would mean lower number of sick days from Dads |
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| This is astonishingly bad news for a department like ours. We have 2 guys out of a team of 7 taking paternity leave, but only for 2 weeks which is causing massive disruption for us. It's not the business that suffers it's the work mates. 2 weeks is just about tolerable, but 6 months of this carnage and I would likely quit. | This is astonishingly bad news for a department like ours. We have 2 guys out of a team of 7 taking paternity leave, but only for 2 weeks which is causing massive disruption for us. It's not the business that suffers it's the work mates. 2 weeks is just about tolerable, but 6 months of this carnage and I would likely quit. |
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