Parents to share maternity leave, says Gordon Brown

Posted by Lucie Mitchell in Pay & benefits on Tue, 15/09/2009 - 14:00
  • Parents will be able to share maternity leave from April 2011
  • The move has been criticised due to creating an administrative burden on employers
  • Others believe it is a start in tackling gender inequality in the workplace

Gordon Brown has announced that the government will go ahead with plans to allow parents to 'split' maternity leave after six months.

The prime minister outlined the proposals, which were put on hold by Lord Mandelson earlier this year, at the TUC conference in Liverpool today.
 
Under the new scheme, mothers will be able to 'transfer' leave to the father for the last six months of maternity leave. If the mother decides to return to work after the initial six months, this would allow fathers to take up to three months’ paid and three months’ unpaid leave – a huge increase from the two weeks they are entitled to at present.

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Editor's Welcome

 

Hello! And welcome back as we enter 2012, with a busy year ahead of us all. With talk of double-dip recessions, a possible partial or even full break-up of the Eurozone and unemployment rates set to hit nearly 9%, topics such as organisational streamlining, staff resilience and talent management are likely to be on many an HR professional's lips over the next 12 months.
 
But to lighten the gloom here in the UK, we also have the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and its attendant public holidays to look forward to at the start of June. Followed by two weeks of Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August and the Paralympics from 29 August to 9 September, each generating their own excitement, but also issues to work through for hard-pressed HR departments trying to sort out the multifarious staffing issues in advance.
 
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