Government publishes Children and Families Bill

The Government has published the Children and Families Bill, which provides for major changes to family-friendly rights. 

The Children and Families Bill, which the Government published on 5 February 2013, introduces, among other things, shared parental leave and statutory shared parental pay. It also extends the right to time off work for antenatal care and the right to request a flexible pattern of work. 

The Bill follows a consultation that the Government carried out during 2011 on a number of workplace issues. The Government published its response on 13 November 2012 and, in relation to flexible parental leave, said that it would retain the default 52-week entitlement to maternity leave, and 39 weeks' statutory maternity pay for eligible women, and fathers' entitlement to two weeks' ordinary paternity leave and pay. However, from 2015, mothers would be able to commit to ending their maternity leave and pay and share the untaken balance of leave and pay as "flexible parental leave" with their partner. Parents would be able share 50 weeks' leave and 37 weeks' pay available to the mother. Similar arrangements would apply to adoptive parents. 

The Bill, when enacted, will allow for Regulations to be made relating to shared parental leave and statutory shared parental pay. Therefore, much of the detail around leave and pay and how they will be administered is to follow. The Government previously announced its intention to consult further on the administration of flexible parental leave and pay. 

In relation to shared parental leave and pay and other family-related leave, the Bill and Regulations made under it will, among other matters:

  • introduce shared parental leave and statutory shared parental pay for parents and adopters;
  • set the maximum amount of parental leave, which according to the explanatory notes to the Bill is expected to be the total length of maternity or adoption leave;
  • provide that the amount of shared parental leave to which a person is entitled will depend on the amount of leave that the other parent has taken in respect of the child;
  • reduce shared parental leave by the amount of maternity leave or adoption leave taken;
  • set the parameters and requirements for shared parental leave and pay, in particular in relation to:
    • when it can be taken;
    • qualifying conditions;
    • requirements around giving notice to take leave and how much leave the parties intend to take;
    • possible consent of the mother or adopter about how much leave his or her partner can take;
    • how much leave and pay can be shared; and
    • variations to periods of shared parental leave and pay;
  • give employees on shared parental leave an entitlement to the benefit of their terms and conditions of employment (except remuneration) as if they were not absent, and a right to return to work;
  • make provisions around redundancy and dismissal for employees who take shared parental leave;
  • prevent parents who take shared parental leave from taking any remaining ordinary paternity leave;
  • allow employees to bring forward the date on which they end ordinary or additional maternity or adoption leave, provided that the other parent has taken prescribed steps in relation to shared parental leave (such as giving the required notice of his or her intention to take shared parental leave);
  • require that parental leave can be taken as a single period or as non-consecutive periods but where an employee proposes to take non-consecutive periods of leave the employer will, subject to restrictions to be specified, be able to require him or her to take the leave as a single period to start on a day that the employee proposes;
  • require that, to qualify for statutory shared parental pay, the mother must be entitled to statutory maternity pay (or the main adopter entitled to statutory adoption pay) in respect of a child;
  • limit statutory shared parental pay to the length of statutory maternity pay or statutory adoption pay (currently 39 weeks);
  • abolish additional paternity leave and additional statutory paternity pay;
  • set statutory adoption pay at 90% of normal earnings for the first six weeks; and
  • extend the right to take ordinary paternity leave and pay and adoption leave and pay (and shared parental leave and pay) to intended parents in a surrogacy situation and approved prospective adopters who look after children as part of a "fostering to adopt" arrangement. 

In relation to time off for antenatal care, the Bill will:

  • introduce a right for fathers and partners, and intended parents in a surrogacy situation, to take time off work to accompany a pregnant woman at an antenatal appointment on two occasions;
  • allow prospective adoptive parents to take either five occasions of paid time off or two occasions of unpaid time off "for the purpose of having contact with the child or for any other purpose connected with the adoption" (joint adopters must elect between them which option to take);
  • grant agency workers the right to time off to attend adoption appointments (on two or five occasions) and accompany a pregnant woman at antenatal appointments (on two occasions); and
  • introduce a right for agency workers not to suffer a detriment for exercising the right to paid time off for antenatal care (introduced by the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/93)) and for exercising the rights introduced by the Bill (ie to time off to accompany at an antenatal appointment and for adoption appointments). 

The Bill also amends the provisions around the right to request a flexible pattern of work by: removing the requirement for the employee to be a carer to qualify for the right to make a request; replacing the requirement for the employer to deal with the request in accordance with the statutory procedure with a requirement to "deal with the application in a reasonable manner"; and requiring the employer to notify the employee of its decision within a "decision period" of three months of the application (or longer if this is agreed). 

The Bill will need to complete its passage through Parliament and gain Royal Assent before it becomes law. 

Also

The family-friendly chapter of the XpertHR employment law manual includes guidance on the law on Pregnancy and maternity leave, Paternity leave, Adoption leave and the Right to request flexible working.