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MNHQ

Nick Clegg announces changes to parental leave today - What do you think?

8 replies

JaneGMumsnet · 13/11/2012 09:41

Hello,

Justine has been asked to comment on Sky News and BBC News about the changes to parental leave announced today by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20295439

The changes include:

  • Parents will be able to share parental leave - so after the mother takes the initial two weeks after the birth, parents will be able to divide up the remaining 50 weeks between them as they wish.
  • Fathers will gain a new right to take unpaid leave to attend two antenatal appointments.
  • Paternity leave will remain at two weeks, to be reviewed in 2018.
  • The Government will legislate to extend the Right to Request Flexible working to all employees, not just parents. So, for example, grandparents could apply for flexible working to help care for their grandchildren.

What do you think? We'd really value your views on these changes.

Many thanks,

MNHQ

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MNHQ

Vickimumsnet · 13/11/2012 12:49

At least one of our Family Friendly programme members offers time off to fathers to attend ante-natal appointments. Others allow time off for them under their 'additional events' leave - so there are some folks out there trying to ensure that fathers can go with partners. The current system for sharing maternity/paternity leave seems pretty bonkers to us in the Mumsnet Family Friendly team though - on balance today's announcement feels like a small step in the right direction?

MNHQ

Vickimumsnet · 13/11/2012 12:57

Some of our members of the Family Friendly programme are already stepping up to the mark and doing things like allowing paid time off for Fathers to attend antenatal appointments. Our worry is in MNHQ FF team (that's a bit of a mouthful) that the already very very confusing entitlements will become even more confusing. We work on this stuff full time and we have to have a little sit down in a dark room every year after we've read all of the various entitlements, enhancements and policies Confused

MNHQ

Vickimumsnet · 13/11/2012 13:19

Interesting point about a small change few will take up - we do keep finding in the FF programme that fathers don't take up their current entitlements, and lots don't know about them. Although we are encouraged that so many fathers respond to our staff surveys which shows they are interested and mostly desperate to find out. Just not very often asked! Am curious to know what you think to the rest of the announcement? what about extending the right to wider family members to ask for flexible working? Grandparents and aunts being able to work flexibly to help out with childcare. Will that work or is it window dressing?

MNHQ

Vickimumsnet · 13/11/2012 13:31

we certainly do have lots of programme members who already allow anyone to ask for flexible working - so the good guys do behave well - although they do it because it is good for business as well as employees! I guess it is about whether legislation will encourage some of the not so good guys to step up to the mark. Lots of staff we talk to say that they feel people who are not parents think they get 'perks' - maybe this will help to tackle some of that as well. If it applied to more people maybe we'll start to reach a position where everyone understands that raising kids is a big job and it's in everyone's interests that families can do that easily :) Takes a village and all that cheesy stuff. Sorry - posting from America and have come over all stateside!

MNHQ

Vickimumsnet · 13/11/2012 14:06

Dreaminofsun and Dahen I really agree with you - my parents live far too far away to help with childcare even if they were fit enough - but I do think that anything that promotes a flexible working culture has to be good. The old 1950's 9-5 is so out of date that it seems crazy we haven't created a bigger range and more creative ways to working differently throughout our working lives. With career breaks made affordable and possible and opportunities to return to work after a break without having to slide right back down the career ladder.

But even if you're doing it flexibly you're still working not caring for a child so the big question does come back to childcare and the incredibly high costs thereof. That's the elephant in the old room.

That point about what you get coming down to line management comes up again and again in our reviews of Family Friendly members. We fed it back to them last year and this year we have seen some responding - one for example has created a managers toolkit to explain how managers should apply family friendly policies. Another has given every member of staff information. Baby steps but they help I think.

MNHQ

Vickimumsnet · 13/11/2012 14:16

Oh please don't be depressed ethelb! I'm old enough to be able to reflect on how far we have come. When my son was born in 1998 there wasn't a right to ask for flexible working. SMP was pathetic - no right to a year's maternity leave (even unpaid) and flexible working meant being allowed to leave on time if you were lucky. No Children's Centres, no free childcare for 2 year olds - we have really made progress. We just need to make it all work better!

MNHQ

Vickimumsnet · 13/11/2012 14:32

Ahh....now there is an interesting point. The government can only legislate about Statutory leave. So that's what's available for sharing in financial terms. What each employer does about offering an enhanced package to mothers and fathers is going to be good to watch. In theory, if a father works somewhere that offers enhanced maternity pay that doesn't automatically mean that he would get that under the new proposals if he took some of what is currently his partners maternity leave entitlement - but then I don't know how equal opps legislation will affect that. Not clear at the moment.

MNHQ

Vickimumsnet · 13/11/2012 14:36

grandparent rights trouble me a tiny bit too. But that's only because I have a bonkers mother in law :(

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