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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-GB link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><h1 style='background:white'><a href="http://www.ier.org.uk/news/shared-parental-leave-and-flexible-working-open-first-ever-public-reading"><span style='font-size:9.5pt;color:#66667F;text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=95 height=72 id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image002.png@01CE0F7A.54366200" alt="http://www.ier.org.uk/sites/ier.org.uk/files/images/Logo.GIF"></span></a><span lang=EN style='font-size:18.0pt'>Shared parental leave and flexible working open to the first ever public reading</span><em><span lang=EN style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;display:none;font-style:normal'>Submitted by <a href="http://www.ier.org.uk/user/2400" title="View user profile.">sglenister</a> on Wed, 20/02/2013 - 13:53</span></em><span lang=EN style='font-size:18.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></h1><p style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white'><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>20 February 2013</span></b><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><i><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The government has set its first ever public reading in motion, allowing anyone to comment on its proposals online before they are debated in parliament. Don't miss this chance to have your say on Coalition plans for shared parental leave and flexible working and read on to find out how the Children and Families Bill, which these proposals are a part of, has been criticised.</span></i><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><h3 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt'>The deadline for public comments is 26th February 2013<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Moves to provide shared parental leave for mothers and fathers, and to extend the right to request flexible working conditions to all employees, are a step in the right direction, but it may not shock regular readers that the Coalition's proposals for these new rights are too weak to be truly effective and have been criticised by many childcare and equality experts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h2 style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:13.5pt'>Statutory rights to leave and pay<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The government's explanatory notes on Statutory Rights to Leave and Pay state:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><i><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The provisions will create a new employment right to shared parental leave and statutory shared parental pay for eligible working parents. Women will continue to be eligible for maternity leave and statutory maternity pay or allowance in the same way that they are currently. If they choose to bring their leave and pay or allowance to an early end, eligible working parents will be able to share up to the balance of the remaining leave and pay as shared parental leave and pay. Eligible adopters will also be able to use the new system for shared parental leave and pay. Adoption leave and pay will be extended to prospective parents in the fostering-to-adopt system, and parents in a surrogacy arrangement who are eligible, and intend to apply for, a parental order.</span></i><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>What these notes do not make clear is that fathers will only have the right to:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l6 level1 lfo7;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Take leave as of six weeks after the birth of the child<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l6 level1 lfo7;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Receive the statutory pay for parental leave, which is less than minimum wage<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>In addition, both parents can only take flexible leave according to the following rules:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo8;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Leave must be taken in weekly blocks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l4 level1 lfo8;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>The employer can still request that leave is taken in a single block<o:p></o:p></span></p><h3 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt'>Criticism of these proposals<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo9;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Fathers are not able to take parental leave from Day One (i.e. the birth of the child), which means they are only able to take unpaid leave to be present at the birth. They are then not able to take any paid leave for a further six weeks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo9;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Only working parents are eligible, so if one parent is unemployed, the parental leave cannot be shared.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo9;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Family members other than the parent are not eligible, so if a single mother falls ill and is unable to cope with full-time childcare, a relative would not be able to take paid parental leave to look after the child.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo9;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>The pay for fathers is at less than minimum wage, locking many families out of shared parental leave as they will not be able to afford it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo9;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>It may be difficult for families to negotiate weekly blocks of leave between two sets of employers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo9;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Childcare may be difficult to schedule into weekly blocks<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo9;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Those hoping to work part-time and share part-time parental leave will not be able to<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo9;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Employers may find it difficult to arrange cover for weekly blocks, and thus may be more likely to demand that leave is taken in a single block, vastly reducing the flexibility for parents, which is the purpose of this Bill<o:p></o:p></span></p><h3 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt'>Comment on these proposals as part of the government's Public Reading<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p style='background:white'><strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#A07997'><a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/bills-and-legislation/public-reading/children-and-families-bill/parental-leave-and-pay/"><span style='color:#A07997'>Click here to provide a comment to MPs on this part of the Bill and read the comments of other members of public</span></a></span></strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#A07997'><o:p></o:p></span></p><h2 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:13.5pt'>Time off work<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The Coalition states that the Children and Families Bill <i>"creates a new right for employees and qualifying agency workers to take unpaid time off work to attend up to two ante-natal appointments with a pregnant woman. The right is available to the pregnant woman’s husband, civil partner or partner, the father or parent of the pregnant woman’s child, and intended parents in a surrogacy situation who meet specified conditions. Provision is made for paid and unpaid time off work for adopters to attend meetings in advance of a child being placed with them for adoption."</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>What is not made clear in the government's explanatory notes is:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l9 level1 lfo10;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>For each appointment, only 6.5 hours of paid leave can be taken<o:p></o:p></span></p><h3 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt'>Criticism of these proposals<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo11;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Women may suffer a complicated pregnancy, in which case two appointments, with 6.5 hours provided for each, may prove insufficient time for fathers and intended parents to accompany pregnant women to appointments.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l5 level1 lfo11;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Intended parents in a surrogacy situation may have to travel long distances in order to visit pregnant women and accompany them to antenatal appointments, in which case 6.5 hours is too restrictive<o:p></o:p></span></p><h3 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt'>Comment on these proposals as part of the government's Public Reading<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p style='background:white'><strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#A07997'><a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/bills-and-legislation/public-reading/children-and-families-bill/time-off-work/"><span style='color:#A07997'>Click here to provide a comment to MPs on this part of the Bill and read the comments of other members of public</span></a></span></strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#A07997'><o:p></o:p></span></p><h2 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:13.5pt'>Flexible Working<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>The government's notes on these proposals state:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='background:white'><i><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>[The Bill] provides for the expansion of the right to request flexible working from employees who are parents or carers to all employees, and the removal of the statutory process that employers must currently follow when considering requests for flexible working. The Government’s policy reforms for the right to request flexible working are set out in its paper Modern Workplaces – Government Response on Flexible Working (November 2012). This Part sets out the statutory provisions to support those reforms. Changes will enable employees to consider requests using their existing HR processes instead of having to follow a statutory procedure. These clauses amend the Employment Rights Act 1996. A statutory Code of Practice will be consulted on and published by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to explain what the minimum requirements are in order to consider a request in a reasonable manner. The Code of practice will be issued using powers in the Trade Union Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.</span></i><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><h3 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt'>Criticism of these proposals<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l8 level1 lfo12;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>The right to request flexible working is already a very weak right for workers, as there request can still easily be turned down.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l8 level1 lfo12;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>Any employee that becomes an employee-owner will not be able to access these rights<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;margin-left:24.0pt;text-indent:-18.0pt;line-height:14.4pt;mso-list:l8 level1 lfo12;background:white'><![if !supportLists]><span lang=EN style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol;color:#413839'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#413839'>The Coalition's view on flexible working and how far it will back the benefits of this proposal are confused by its concurrent introduction of employee-ownership, which includes forsaking the right to request flexible working. This makes the government's rejection of current procedures and replacement with a duty to take "reasonable" consideration of an employee's request potentially worrying, as it is not yet clear what the Coalition considers to be "reasonable".<o:p></o:p></span></p><h3 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt'>Comment on these proposals as part of the government's Public Reading<o:p></o:p></span></h3><p style='background:white'><strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#A07997'><a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/bills-and-legislation/public-reading/children-and-families-bill/flexible-working/"><span style='color:#A07997'>Click here to provide a comment to MPs on this part of the Bill and read the comments of other members of public</span></a></span></strong><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#A07997'><o:p></o:p></span></p><h2 style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:13.5pt'>Sources<o:p></o:p></span></h2><p style='background:white'><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>This information is in large part a summary of the </span><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#A07997'><a href="http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/new-thinking/policy/0-1-children-and-families-bill-second-reading-briefing"><span style='color:#A07997'>excellent briefing notes put together by Working Families</span></a></span><span lang=EN style='font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:normal;background:white'><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>