New Government proposals, which could lead to fathers receiving 10 months’ paid paternity leave, have been attacked by business leaders.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg will outline the Coalition’s plans at the launch of a family policy report from think-tank Demos. He will say that mothers will still have the first six weeks off after the birth on 90% of their pay whilst fathers will still be entitled to the current two weeks paternity leave but the rest of the parental leave, which could be 46 weeks, can be shared between the two parents.
Reforms which had been drawn up by the previous Labour government are due to come into effect in April and would give fathers the chance to take up to six months of any unused maternity leave by the mother, but Clegg will say that those proposals do not go far enough and he will promise a “properly flexible system of shared parental leave”.
The Coalition hopes to introduce the new reforms in 2015 but has said that it intends to consult with business leaders and Andrew Cave from the Federation of Small Businesses has already attacked the plans because of the effect they are likely to have on small businesses. He said: “Measures like these will make it more difficult for businesses to function and actually make it less likely that they will be able to employ additional staff. It shows a complete lack of understanding of how small businesses operate and the pressures that are placed on employers with the existing maternity rules.”