Strategic HR Parental policies
Does it take a business
to raise a child?
A swathe of family-friendly policies have been
introduced recently, but there are still gaps to be
addressed. CLAIRE MUIR hears how some
employers are going beyond legislation to help
Some of the most interesting developments
in employment law this year could be
those that protect the UK’s 13 million
working mums and dads, as well as expectant
and potential parents.
Societal norms regarding working parents
have dramatically evolved but, according to
2019 global UNICEF report Are the world’s
richest countries family friendly?, the UK’s
childcare and parental leave approach leaves a
lot to be desired. Ranked 28 out of 31 (just
ahead of Cyprus, Greece and Switzerland), the
UK is considered one of the least familyfriendly
countries in the OECD.
In one of the biggest shake ups in
employment law yet, the government hopes
its Good Work Plan – the result of 2017’s
Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices –
will push the UK up the league table. Goals
include increased family flexibility, more
parental involvement in childcare, support
for mothers returning to work, less
discrimination and closure of the gender
pay gap – all while minimising any burden
for businesses.
Where we are now
In March the UK welcomed two new parentfocused
laws. The first saw the existing
neonatal care policy for premature babies
extended to include all newborns who need
specialist care for two weeks or more.
The second, Jack’s Law, ruled that any
parents who lose a child aged under 18 (a
bereavement type for which there was
previously no statutory right to leave) are
entitled to two weeks’ paid absence. This is a
day one right.
Unlikely to significantly affect any one
business, Jack’s Law is highly employee
focused. As such, HR engagement is vital.
“Employers should be led by the employee,”
advises Rosie Gloster, a senior research fellow
at the Institute for Employment Studies (IES).
“Grief is a personal issue and employees will
respond to and be affected by it differently.
Some may wish to return to work sooner,
others may find it more difficult.”
As important as setting out the legal basis
is, the most effective staff support will come
from managers trained to have conversations
with grieving employees, says Gloster.
For Katherine Easter, chief people officer at
the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), this has
been a sad reality: “Our corporate culture
enables us to work with individuals to
understand what they need from us. This may
be time away from the office, a reduction in
hours so work can be used as a source of
comfort or distraction, or just recognising that
the individual may not feel able to fulfil all
their duties for a period of time.”
Evidently Jack’s Law is a considerable
improvement on the previous situation – but
is it enough?
“Most people would agree that 14 days
isn’t enough time for a parent to adjust to the
‘new normal’ after the death of their child,”
says Emma Day-Duro, a senior qualitative
researcher on this topic at Ashridge Executive
Education, part of Hult International
Business School.
“It’s crucial that managers don’t see this
two-week entitlement as some kind of
indication that parental bereavement is
managed and controlled in this time. What it
can do, however, is allow for a conversation
after two weeks.
“Often an employer’s immediate
response is ‘take all the time you
need.’ While this is a nice
sentiment, in reality it
isn’t often possible. By marking the two-week
point the pressure is off, and a contact point
has been established to discuss how best to
move forward.”
Day-Duro believes the new law will hand
some degree of control to the parents,
allowing them to take time when they need
it – and split the weeks to take them separately
if required.
She continues: “What our research is
finding is that child bereavement is incredibly
complex, and grief doesn’t come all at once
and then disappear or dissipate. Some parents
may appear to cope well initially and feel the
need to throw themselves back into work, only
to struggle later down the line.”
However, the next stumbling block is the
fact that a parent who loses a 19-year-old
child is not covered by Jack’s Law.
“Even if this is not recognised by law,
it is crucial that managers and colleagues
appreciate that there isn’t a cutoff age where
the death of a child would be less traumatic,”
urges Day-Duro.
“It would be fantastic moving forward
if this law could apply to all kinds of
close bereavement.”
Further family-friendly reforms are in the
pipeline; flexible working for all and an
extension of redundancy protection for
pregnant women and those just back from
maternity, adoption or Shared Parental Leave.
Law-binding policies aside, some HR
departments are leaps and bounds ahead with
positive parental initiatives.
Pay and leave
The introduction of Shared Parental Leave
(SPL) in 2015 was considered groundbreaking,
but enthusiasm for the scheme
quickly dried up with as little as 1% of people
42 HR April 2020 hrmagazine.co.uk
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