New law came into effect yesterday (1 December) to give parents flexibility on how they share the care of their child during the maternity period.
Under the new rules, parents of a child will be able to share up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay after the initial two weeks. It only applies to couples with babies due, or children adopted, on or after 5 April 2015.
It is a part of a series of measures aimed at giving fathers more of a shared role during the early stages of a child’s life, and equal rights within the maternity period. Earlier this year, fathers received the right to attend antenatal appointments.
The changes are expected to affect as many as 285,000 working couples initially, and are hoped to spur a wider cultural change, enabling fathers to feel more confident in their parental role.
Employment Relations Minister Jo Swinson said: “The new Shared Parental Leave rules will give real choice to parents. We all know that every family has its own unique set of circumstances, and Shared Parental Leave reflects that reality.
“Up until now, families have had very limited options when it comes to juggling the demands of work with the arrival of a new baby. The old maternity leave system reinforced the archaic assumptions that the bulk of childcare responsibilities should be done by mums, and failed to recognise the vitally important role that dads and partners have to play.”
Meanwhile, speaking of the new law’s benefits to businesses, Acas Chair Sir Brendan Barber said: “Many employers recognise that they can retain talented staff by offering a flexible approach to work and a healthy work life balance can help business success and growth.”