Monday 10 January 2011

2011 brings new changes to parents’ employment rights

Every New Year brings with it changes to employment law. 2011 will see parents acquiring additional employment rights when new legislation comes into effect in April. The rights in question are the right to maternity, paternity and adoption leave, and the right to request flexible working.


From 6th April 2011 fathers will be allowed an additional 26 weeks’ paternal leave if the mother of the child has not taken her full entitlement to statutory maternity leave. In order for a father to qualify for the additional paternity leave, the week the child is expected to be born must begin on or after 3rd April.

In addition, the employee must be the father of the child, or married to, in a civil partnership with, or the partner of the mother. They must have worked in continuous employment with their employer for a period of 26 weeks and they must have or expect to have the main responsibility (along with the mother) for the child’s upbringing.

For parents who are adopting a child, their rights to paternity leave will also be increased. If the adoptive parent has worked for their employer for a continuous period of 26 weeks, they will be entitled to additional paternity leave. In addition, they must be jointly matched to the child as part of the adopting couple. Additional paternity leave is not available for the spouse, civil partner or partner of an adoptive parent unless they are jointly adopting the child.

The new legislation also increases the statutory rates of pay for maternity, paternity and adoption leave. From 3rd April 2011 the weekly entitlement will rise from £124.88 per week to £128.73 per week.

As employment law currently stands, only parents with children under the age of 17, or 18 if the child is disabled, have the right to request flexible working hours from their employer. The government is to extend this right to parents with children under the age of 18, even if they are not disabled. This change is set to take place on 6th April.

In addition, the government has announced its intention to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees and not just parents of children of a certain age.

The proposals for this extension are currently under consultation, which is due to be completed by March 2011. The government will then review the responses to the consultation, which it aims to finish by December 2011.

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