Tag: parental leave

We updated you all the way back in 2019 (here) that the Government was consulting on strengthening support for families in the workplace in its ‘Good work plan: Proposals to support families’. This consultation included proposals relating to paternity leave and pay entitlement.

The Government has now responded to the paternity leave consultation (here). It says it will amend the current legislation to make it more flexible by allowing fathers or partners to:

• Split their leave into two blocks of one week (previously, only one block of one or two weeks could be taken);
• Take their leave and pay at any point in the first year after the birth or adoption of their child (instead of only within the first eight weeks);

The proposed reforms will also adjust the way fathers or partners give notice of leave and pay to their employer, meaning employees must give notice that they want to take leave 15 weeks before the expected week of childbirth, and then four weeks before each period of leave.

However, there are no proposed changes to shared parental leave or unpaid parental leave for the time being.