News
Employment Law Update (November 2009)
Draft rules on extra paternity leave published
The government has published draft rules on how proposals for
Additional Paternity Leave will work. It has also confirmed its
intention to introduce the new rules for parents of babies born
after 3rd April 2011.
The long-awaited changes will allow a father to take additional
leave by transferring some of the mother's unused leave to him.
However, further changes to extend the period of paid Maternity
Leave from nine months to a year have been shelved.
What's happening?
The Government has long had the ambition to extend paid
Maternity Leave for mothers to 12 months (up from the current 9
months) and to allow mothers to transfer up to 6 months' of the
entitlement to fathers, to take as Additional Paternity Leave, in
addition to the two weeks' Paternity Leave currently allowed.
The proposals have not been implemented as quickly as first
expected – the changes were expected to be fully effective by April
2010. The delay has, at least in part, been due to the impact of
the recession on employers and the government's recognition that
introducing the changes might put additional burdens on employers
at a difficult time.
The current proposals are:
- The extension of paid Maternity Leave from 9 months to 12
months has been delayed with no guaranteed implementation
date;
- The facility for mothers to transfer up to six months' of their
Maternity Leave to fathers will take effect, but only from
3rd April 2011;
- Where fathers take advantage of this facility, only the first
three months' Additional Paternity Leave will be paid.
One welcome part of the proposals from an employer's point of
view is that a simple "self-certification" process has been
proposed for parents to request the new leave.
The proposals are currently under consultation, so the final
version of the regulations might be different, but it is not
expected there will be significant changes at this stage.
Summary - how the new rules will work
- Fathers will be able to take up to 26 weeks of Additional
Paternity Leave;
- To do so, the father must qualify for Ordinary Paternity Leave
of two weeks and the mother must return to work early;
- Leave will be paid as if it were received by the mother under
the Maternity Pay rules, so under current rules up to 3 months
would be paid at SMP rates and the rest would be unpaid;
- Both parents will sign a "self-certification" form which will
be sufficient evidence to allow the father's employer to pay
Additional Statutory Paternity Pay;
- Fathers will have to give employers at least 8 weeks' notice
and employers have the right to ask to see a copy of the birth
certificate;
- Fathers can vary the start date of their leave by giving 6
weeks' notice.
How Mentor can help
Mentor will be providing updated guidance ahead of the rule
changes in April 2011. However, the consultation on the draft
regulations is still in progress, and any change of government in
2010 - following a general election - might mean further changes to
the proposals.
If you need further help or clarification in the meantime, talk
to our Employment Law Team.