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Be Prepared - New Rights for Working Mothers and Fathers
 If
you are an employer then you will know how
difficult it can already be keeping up with
all the different pieces of legislation that
affect your business. But are you ready for
the new legal rights for mothers and fathers
that come into force from April 2007?
The new legislation will mean that maternity
and adoption pay is extended from 6 months
to 9 months, and the rights to request
flexible working will be extended to the
carers of adults. In addition, the
legislation allows the government to
introduce a right for fathers to have up to
26 weeks additional paternity leave; and to
extend maternity leave for mothers to 12
months.
A survey by the Chartered Institute of
Personnel and Development (CIPD) and KPMG
has found that 64% of employers think the
paternity provisions will cause them
difficulty, while 57% think the maternity
and adoption pay provisions will cause
difficulties.
The survey also found that only 1 in 10
employers think that any of the new
provisions will be beneficial to their
business; and of those, the feature they are
least concerned about is the new flexible
working rights for carers.
Mike Emmott, CIPD Adviser, Employee
Relations, comments: “These results do not
necessarily indicate hostility to the Work
and Families Act. Most good employers
recognise the importance of work life
balance and, as the CIPD/KPMG survey shows,
many already offer more than what is
provided for in the WFA 2006.
“However, it is clear from the survey that
there is evident scepticism about some of
the WFA provisions, especially those
relating to paternity leave, and concern
about the difficulties that might arise in
meeting them.”
Make sure you understand the new rules
before they come into force in April, and
you can prevent any potential difficulties,
and plan for any extra costs.
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