BUSINESS PATERNITY LAW
fit from proactively encouraging staff to take parental leave,
should it be billed as an employment incentive? Lee thinks
not. In his view: “It’s like saying maternity leave should be
part of the employment incentive. The point is that dads
are becoming far more equalised as parents, and so the
demand for better and more enhanced parental leave will
already be there and growing.”
He adds that the fact that a number of larger companies
took action on it last year shows that there’s a sea-change
about to take place. Furthermore, he thinks that businesses
that don’t help fathers will very soon be left looking like the
odd ones out – and that will affect their recruitment and
retention.
The future
Shared parental leave in the UK is relatively new, certainly
compared to Sweden. It’s been an enormous change in the
law, but take-up remains relatively low. Makin suggests
that the reason it isn’t taken up is that it is paid at the (low)
statutory rate, even though there are many maternity
policies which are paid at the basic level too.
It’s her view that the way to solve this problem is to make
the financial incentives for all completely equal where
there is enhanced maternity pay in a business. She adds:
“This would not only encourage the secondary carer to
share the leave, but would send a message that it was something
that was actively encouraged, rather than businesses
fulfilling a basic legal obligation”.
Ultimately, Lee feels that shared parental leave is an
encouraging start, but, as one of his writers recently
commented, “a dad is for life, not just paternity leave”.
What worries Lee is that “paternity leave is only for a set
amount of time – it’s what happens after that engrains
a parent’s experience at work”.
And that’s the nub of the matter.
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April & May 2020 Printweek
have an enhanced maternity package in place and who
want to encourage staff to take shared parental leave
further – should be to enhance the former to make it more
attractive to new parents.
But Lee makes another point – one that relates to implementation
of shared parental leave: “We have heard a lot of
cases where the HR teams are going through the process for
the first time with the dads and mums, so there can be a lot
of misinformation and case handing there.” He thinks a
shared parental leave process needs to be jointly agreed
with employers, but that can also add to the time it takes to
organise.
A happier workforce?
It’s encouraging for Lee that corporate attitudes are
changing: “Parental leave is an area that has been a big
focus area for many more enlightened companies over
the past 12 months. And many firms have now offered far
more enhanced forms of parental leave, which is hugely
encouraging.”
And this makes sense, for it’s perfectly true that a new
arrival is a momentous time for parents, and employers
that manage this well create untold goodwill. For Makin,
shared paternity leave certainly “has the potential to result
in the sharing of time that has traditionally only applied to
mothers and primary carers, with an acknowledgement
that where there are two people bringing up a child, they
can have equal importance and responsibility”.
It’s her view that this could be positive for all concerned.
Indeed, she takes the line that “new fathers who feel they
are ‘understood’ by their employers, particularly when it
comes to such a significant period of upheaval in their lives,
will often return as more engaged, positive employees”.
Even so, we’re back to the thorny problem that the take-up
remains low and traditional thinking is still prevalent.
The baton is taken up by Lee who thinks change is afoot.
He says: “It’s encouraging that the best employers are starting
to revise their paternity policies.” He notes that Deloitte
now offers four weeks of full paid paternity leave, while
other employers like O2 and Diageo have established
options for more equal parental leave – “it’s a space that
those making decisions are starting to see more clearly.”
Makin would advise firms wanting to actively encourage
staff to take time off that there’s nothing to fear.
However, she says that they need to
be genuine in their encouragement:
“It is about not just paying ‘lip service’
but actively demonstrating
that there will not be any negative
repercussions to the
employee, and that it is
actively encouraged.”
She says the process
can be smoothed by
good communication
generally and
ensuring employees
– who are off
work on parental leave
– are still kept in the
loop and given
equal opportunities,
and are
notified and
encouraged to
apply for any internal
vacancies.
While a business can bene-
Dads are becoming far more equalised
as parents, and so the demand for better
and more enhanced parental leave will
already be there and growing” Han-Son Lee Daddilife.com