Extended Paternity Leave 'Makes Business Sense'

Men need to be "actively encouraged" to take time off work to look after their newborn babies, according to Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister. But will his proposals for shared parental leave work?

The Government’s move to extend paternity leave by up to 10 months has caused unease in parts of the business community. Small businesses in particular claim the plans will lead to a massive administrative disturbance in planning and arranging cover for fathers who were previously only entitled to two weeks off.

Small business groups have warned companies would struggle to cope with “yet more red tape”. They say employers already face the parental leave changes taking in place in April 2011, which will allow the mother to transfer up to six months of her leave to the man, provided she returns to work. Going one step further and offering potentially 10 months is too far, organisations' lobby groups have claimed.

Human resources (HR) professionals have a challenge on their hands. Those organisations keen to show they are committed to equal opportunities and flexible working should lap the new legislation up and use every opportunity possible to promote their family-friendly policies to future and existing employees. HR's job is to convince chief executives that these proposals will make a difference to the bottom line in the long run, through increased retention and reduced recruitment costs. The new parental leave legislation coming this April should mark the start of simplifying a range of leave policies so they are the same for both men and women, over the working lifecycle. That can only be a good thing.

But this policy is fairer for those firms that employ a lot of women. For a change, companies that employ more men are also going to be affected. We must remember that British firms have some of the most innovative and flexible working arrangements in Europe. They are likely to already have the skills and procedures to be able to manage new parental leave arrangements effectively. The question is not whether businesses can afford the time and money paying attention to Nick Clegg's proposals, but whether fathers can?

All you Citylights Professional Payroll Services newsletter readers, if you need any further information or you also are facing the same problems which are mentioned above, we have 3 tips for managing parental leave:

• Make sure that current policies on maternity and paternity leave are up to date
• Think about ways of staying in contact with those on leave to keep them in touch with the business.
• Promote your parental leave policy to show that you are an organisation people want to work for.

In the meantime for more business information you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.

Scott Muller
Managing Director
Tel 0844 576 33 08
Fax 0844 556 12 72
Email: scott@citylightspps.com
Citylights PPS Ltd - Payroll Services