Employers can enhance maternity pay, but only offer statutory shared parental pay for partners, the Court of Appeal rules.
Two cases were heard concurrently in May, Hextall v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Police and Ali v Capita. The court rejected both claims, saying there was nothing unusual about the policies.
At both places of work, women were entitled to maternity pay for up to 29 weeks, with 14 weeks full pay at Capita and 18 weeks full pay at Leicestershire Police. In both cases, parents taking parental leave received statutory shared parental pay.
Hextall argued that paying women on maternity leave more than parents on shared parental leave indirectly discriminated against men, while Ali argued that receiving less than a woman was direct discrimination.
A statutory exemption was made by Parliament to afford women special treatment in relation to pregnancy and giving birth. Women on maternity leave are given this treatment to recover from childbirth, cope with pregnancy and bond and care for their newborn child.
The judges in the Ali v Capita case ruled that the arguments put forward were an “attack against the whole statutory scheme”.
They added that the “entire period of maternity leave, following childbirth, is for more than facilitating childcare.”
In the Hextall V Leicestershire Police case, the court agreed with Leicestershire Police that Hextall’s claim was about equal pay, rather than indirect discrimination.
However, because the law allows employers to make exceptions for women on maternity leave, this claim could not be successful.
More employers are making parental pay equal, with diversity experts arguing that paying men and women the same for parental leave associated with childbirth, it can share the responsibility with fathers.
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