Work and Families Bill published

The Government has confirmed measures to increase paternity and maternity leave with the publication of the Work and Families Bill.

The Bill provides for the introduction of new legislation to allow fathers to take up to six months' additional paternity leave, with paternity pay at the standard rate if the mother returns to work before taking her full entitlement to statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance.

The Government will also extend paid maternity leave from six to nine months from April 2007 as the first step towards its goal of twelve months' paid maternity leave. The Government will also extend the right to request flexible working to employees who care for sick or elderly relatives from April 2007.

Other measures contained in the Bill, which will be subject to consultation, include a power to increase the maximum weekly amount payable for compensation payments in redundancy, unfair dismissal, and insolvency; and an enabling power allowing the secretary of state to make Regulations conferring on workers the right to a prescribed amount of annual leave in each leave year.

In a press release accompanying the publication of the Bill, the DTI says that this latter power would be used to introduce new Regulations to prevent bank holidays from being included in an employee's annual leave entitlement.

  • Johnson delivers on family friendly promise (Microsoft Word format, 69K)   Read the press release on the DTI website.

  • Work and Families: Choice and Flexibility   Read more about the Government's proposals to extend family-friendly rights on the DTI website.

  • Government to extend statutory paternity leave to six months   Personneltoday.com reports.

  • Work and Families Bill (PDF format, 165K)  Read the full text of the Bill on the UK Parliament website.

  • Work and Families Bill Explanatory Notes  Read the explanatory notes to the Bill on the UK Parliament website.

    Also

    Government publishes proposals to help create family-friendly working    IRS journal Equal Opportunities Review reports.

    Help with families Bill gets cautious welcome from HR    Personnel Today's Mike Berry reports.

    Businesses told extra paternity leave is not a cause for concern  Personneltoday.com reports.

    Maternity plans come under fire   By Michael Millar, writing in Personnel Today.

    New rights for working parents   Ross Wigham reports, from Employers' Law.