additional paternity leave - at last!

ninky_2

i for one am delighted about the additional paternity leave rules. a big step in the right direction and hopefully this will reduce discrimination against women of childbearing age. i wonder if it will actually favour older women (i.e. past childbearing) being employed since this is now the only group an employer can be sure will not claim months of statutory parental leave.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12949382

New paternity leave rules have come into effect meaning that parents will be legally entitled to share time off work during their baby's first year.
The move means parents could take six months off work each.
The government hopes to extend the measures with a fully flexible system of shared parental leave in 2015.

PasturesNew

ninky wrote: »

i wonder if it will actually favour older women (i.e. past childbearing) being employed since this is now the only group an employer can be sure will not claim months of statutory parental leave.

I'd hope so, employers assuming I was going to have kids has definitely been an issue in the past.... however, now they might assume that one has squads of grandchildren.

Pete111

Just written up our firms new policy on this.

Will be interested to see the uptake. Was speaking to some other HR'y types last week and the general view is that in its current guise it may not have a massive impact - will report back!

P

ILW

Unnofficial policy among many small businesses is to not take on under 45s. Not worth the potential hassle.

ultrawomble

I reckon that the financial hit will discourage a huge take up.

PasturesNew

It doesn't matter how many laws are passed, you can't stop people thinking like people .... e.g. choose the prettiest girl for reception; pay the bloke more if you choose him, or choose the woman if you're trying to get the job done cheaper; don't take on youngsters as they have hangovers and phone in sick/lie; don't take on old people when you could have hired the bird with the pert breasts; don't pick the person with a disability; avoid those who don't look like you (e.g. colour/race, age, even prettiness or fatness). I bet some people have been picked in the past because they say they play footy and the hirer's got a keen interest in the firm's footy team.... and I've been picked in the past for "having a fabulous speaking voice/can you record our answerphone message as your first task" and "you were local, and I didn't want anybody turning up late because parking's difficult to find" and "you were too old to have kids, so more reliable".

ninky_2

ILW wrote: »

Unnofficial policy among many small businesses is to not take on under 45s. Not worth the potential hassle.

what about men over this age who go on to have second (or more) marriages / relationships in later life - often with younger women who want another family? employers sort of know the biological limits of women having children but with men this is not the case. you could conceivably have a man who actually has a child with more than one woman and takes paternity leave for both. i'm assuming there are no rules that you have to be cohabiting?

ninky_2

Pete111 wrote: »

Just written up our firms new policy on this.

Will be interested to see the uptake. Was speaking to some other HR'y types last week and the general view is that in its current guise it may not have a massive impact - will report back!

P

i reckon the shift will be fairly gradual but i do think it will happen. a lot of women earn more than their partners and would see the benefit of spending less time out of the workplace - not to mention the novelty of being a sah parent wearing thin after a while.

ninky_2

ultrawomble wrote: »

I reckon that the financial hit will discourage a huge take up.

financial hit to whom? not all men earn more than their partners.

Pete111

ninky wrote: »

what about men over this age who go on to have second (or more) marriages / relationships in later life - often with younger women who want another family? employers sort of know the biological limits of women having children but with men this is not the case. you could conceivably have a man who actually has a child with more than one woman and takes paternity leave for both. i'm assuming there are no rules that you have to be cohabiting?

Not specifically. Subject to a few other bits and pieces, to take advantage of the new rules...


.....You must also satisfy each of the following criteria:

• you must be the father of the child

or be

• • married to,
  • the civil partner of,
  • the partner of,

the child's mother and expect to have the main responsibility for the upbringing of the child (apart from the mother’s responsibility).

In addition, the mother of the child must be entitled to one or more of the below:

o maternity leave,
o statutory maternity pay
o maternity allowance

Please note, the mother must have returned to work before you can become eligible to begin Additional Paternity Leave.


(At least I hope that's it!!)

LilacPixie

Very interesting.. too late for us as final baby already here but if it had been possible then my husband would of requested that. He origionally was a stay at home dad to baby number 1 and would jump at the chance to do it again. I'm the main wage earner so it would make financial sense for us because baby would still be at home with dad and I would be away earning more than he could or would