According to a report published on 5 February 2019 by Carers UK, we may still have some way to go to help support those who are trying to juggle work whilst also caring for their older and disabled relatives.
Are employers doing enough to support employees who have caring responsibilities?
Returning to work after maternity can be a daunting prospect for new mums, and it is important for them to feel that they will be valued and supported upon their return. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many women.
With Brexit fast approaching, Theresa May is said to be "determined to do even more as we leave the EU", including by building on the current EU requirements on maternity and paternity leave protection.
Consultation on extending redundancy protection for new parents
In September, the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018 received Royal Assent (as we reported here). The Act really just enables the government to introduce regulations and it has now published its response to the consultation, which took place earlier this year, giving some indication of how the new scheme will operate when it comes into force in, we expect, 2020.
Parental bereavement leave and pay: scheme starts to take shape
The latest announcement from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that they are expecting their first child and the recent return of the Duchess of Cambridge from her maternity break demonstrate that the Royal Family, similarly to other British parents, is not a stranger to tackling a wide range of parental responsibilities along with their official duties.
This prompted us to set out the main entitlements in relation to family leave and pay available to working parents under the UK laws.
A quick guide to family leave and pay entitlements in the UK
The Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018 was given royal assent on 13 September 2018, having started out in July 2017 as a Private Member's Bill subsequently supported by the government.
Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act 2018 receives royal stamp of approval
A recent survey from YouGov has found that only 6% of Brits now work 9am-5pm and nearly half of those surveyed worked flexibly through job-sharing flexitime or compressed hours. The study shows that the most preferred working hours are 8am-4pm (chosen by 37% of the respondents) with another 21% saying they would prefer to start work even earlier at 7am and finish at 3pm.
Only 6% of Brits work 9am-5pm
A study conducted by the Liberal Democrats has revealed that only 4 UK government departments display their parental leave and pay policies on their external websites. This is despite the fact that the government has launched a new "Share the joy" campaign, intended to encourage more parents to utilise shared parental leave, and is spending £1.5 million to increase awareness.
Publicise parental leave policies
In the week after Father's Day in the UK, insurance provider Aviva commissioned a report into Shared Parental Leave (SPL) polling 1,000 fathers and 1,000 mothers with children aged 16 and under nationwide. Despite the legislation on SPL being in force since 2015 and the recent government campaign "Share the Joy", intended to raise awareness (which we talked about here), half of working fathers haven't heard of SPL. This is particularly disappointing as nine out of 10 parents are reported as believing mums and dads should be given equal parental leave.
The equality of parenting
One of the biggest barriers to gender equality and pay parity is a continuing resistance by employers to embrace agile working. A recent joint study from flexible working specialists, Timewise, and Deloitte set out a five step plan to help employers establish and implement new working cultures with the aim of improving pay parity between men and women.
Can flexible working improve the gender pay gap?
We blogged in June last year about the employment tribunal claim of Ali -v- Capita Customer Management Ltd where Mr Ali was successful in his claim for direct sex discrimination. Female employees at Capita were entitled to 14 weeks’ full pay on maternity leave whereas fathers were only entitled to two weeks’ full pay on paternity and shared parental leave. Mr Ali's wife was advised to return to work early from maternity leave after being diagnosed with post natal depression. Mr Ali asked Capita whether he could take leave instead and was told he could take shared parental leave on statutory pay. The Tribunal found that this was direct sex discrimination.
No requirement to enhance pay for shared parental leave
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