Paternity v Maternity pay

[rafa]

me again:)
At my firm maternity leave is SMP only so no boost from the company. However male employees are entitled to one week SMP and one week full pay from the company. Surely this is discrimination if the package for males is better than that for female employees?

No, nothing discriminatory in that :)

Paternity pay can only be taken by the parter of people giving birth (so men, or women in civil partnerships).

Maternity pay can only be taken by women.

In any case the maternity pay overall is better than paternity leave (as you get 6 weeks at 90%) so men could argue they're being short changed :)

Sorry should have explained better. If the handbook says "paternity pay is 1 weeks full pay then £120ish a week for men only but women taking paternity leave don't get this" then yes it would be discrimination but looks like it isn't.

Paternity pay can be taken by either men or women so its not discriminatory unless the book specifically states "women can get paid paternity pay".

In any case its not related to maternity pay in any way shape or form so is a null argument.

seeyouokay - thanks for that, I agree maternity pay is better overall for women but the company are not contributing to that - simply getting money back off the government whereas for men they are actively contributing a weeks salary so surely the men are getting a better deal from the company than women are?

Your missing the point.

Paternity pay is not a "male" benefit. It can be taken by women in civil partnerships. So unless they are excluded from the weeks enhanced pay then the company is not discriminating.

The fact that maternity pay is not "topped up" doesn't have any bearing on the fact. They are two separate benefits and topping up paternity pay and not maternity pay is not sex discrimination.

Kay is right. There is nothing discriminatory in having different packages for maternity and paternity pay. Maternity and paternity leave are such different entitlements that they are not seen as things you can compare in that way. The day paternity leave is 52 weeks, then you might have a case...