Underdog

Miabsdad

Hello Everyone,

I am after a bit of advice on a work situation.

I work for a bank which is one of the biggest in the world, I don't get these ridiculous bankers bonuses that investment bankers get, i just work in the back office dealing with customers accounts.

My wife and I had a little girl born September 2011, my wife took 6 months out of her work on maternity leave up until January 2012. I then used the new legislation which says Fathers can take additional paternity leave, provided the Mother returns to work. This means i will receive statutory paternity pay from the government, provided my wife returns to work therefore her statutory maternity pay will stop.

Now the whole point of this legislation is so that fathers can spend time bonding with there child as a mother would. The leave i take is exactly the same as what my wife had taken (To care and nurture our child).

My employer is very generous with its enhanced pay around leave, in the companies policy relating to Maternity Leave they pay a whopping 6 months full pay (26 weeks) so they basically top up the statutory pay to the mothers normal wage.
The companies policy for Additional Paternity leave is less favourable, this states as a father wishing to take Additional Paternity leave they will pay statutory Paternity pay (equivalent of Stat Mat Pay) and will only enhance pay to full salary for a maximum of six weeks provided the leave is taken on the 20th week of the mothers Mat leave.

My problem with this is that as the leave is for the same purpose Fathers are being treated less favourable than a mother who would take Mat leave within the company. I am struggling to get my head round the issue as technically i am being left short for wanting to spend time with my Daughter. I have referred to the Equality act and the legislation regarding Additional Paternity Leave and I am confident that this is wrong by the company.

I have raised a grievance about this to the company who squashed it saying that they are following legislation regarding this.

They refer to the following snippet.

Additional Paternity Leave is for a maximum of 26 weeks. If your partner has returned to work, the leave can be taken between 20 weeks and one year after your child is born or placed for adoption. You may be entitled to receive Additional Statutory Paternity Pay during your partner's Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance or Adoption Pay period.

the company state that as they only enhance Mat leave for 26 weeks, they will pay the remaining 6 weeks of enhanced pay to me (provided leave starts on the 20th week) However, my wife does not work for the company so why can't they enhance my pay for 26 weeks like they would for a person on Mat leave?

I have joined a union but as this issue was prior to me joining the will not let me use the free legal services through them which i understand, but they have said as this is the first case of its kind it will naturally receive a lot of attention (as its new legislation). Hence the underdog title.

I am after opinions/advice on what you all think, I have appealed this and when i return to work i am to have my appeal, should that come back as the lame excuse i received before i would consider a tribunal.

This is more of a thing for other fathers within the company who might want to take the leave, as i am the first i do not want them to be put off taking this leave because of the lack of support from the company as the time i have had off so far with my Daughter has made me realise what life is all about.

Any advice is good advice.

Thanks

MiaBsDad

TrickyWicky

To be honest I think they're being generous anyway letting you have time off. Men never used to get time off to bond with their children at all and lets face it, you've not had to push it out of your ding-dong like a woman has to (and then taking time to recover).

If you had to push a coffee pot out of your schlong then I'd probably agree with you that you need more time off but to be honest in a time of recession when the rest of us are scratching around for bread crumbs I think you should realise just how well off you do have it.

Faith177

My OH is only allowed 2 weeks I think paternatity leave when we finally have kids any longer and he has to take holiday so think you have got a good perk there already

paddedjohn

Faith177 wrote: »

My OH is only allowed 2 weeks I think paternatity leave when we finally have kids any longer and he has to take holiday so think you have got a good perk there already

This is a different thing to normal paternity leave, it applies to all fathers not just a select few as long as the mother has gone back to work early.

The basics of Additional Paternity Leave and Pay

You may qualify for Additional Paternity Leave and Pay if either:

• you are the father of a child due on or after 3 April 2011
• your wife, partner or civil partner is pregnant and due to give birth to a child on or after 3 April 2011
• you and your partner receive notification that you are matched with a child for adoption on or after 3 April 2011
• your spouse, civil partner or partner (including same-sex relationships) is adopting a child from overseas and the child enters Great Britain on or after 3 April 2011

Additional Paternity Leave is for a maximum of 26 weeks. If your partner has returned to work, the leave can be taken between 20 weeks and one year after your child is born or placed for adoption. You may be entitled to receive Additional Statutory Paternity Pay during your partner's Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance or Adoption Pay period.
Additional Statutory Paternity Pay is paid if you either:

• take Additional Paternity Leave
• are not working for the purposes of caring for your child, during your partner's Statutory Maternity Pay, Maternity Allowance or Statutory Adoption Pay period

The current rate is £135.45 a week or 90 per cent of your average weekly earnings, if that is less.
To qualify for Additional Paternity Leave you must be an employee. For Additional Statutory Paternity Pay you must be an employed earner and both you and your partner must meet certain criteria that are set out below. If you are unsure if you are an employee, follow the link below.

• Types of employment status (employment section)
  

Miabsdad

The leave i am taking is Additional Paternity Leave, the government brought this in to allow fathers the same time off that the mother would get, 26 weeks of it is paid at the same statutory rate as maternity pay and all fathers are entitled to this by law provided they meet the criteria.

This can be seen on Direct Gov website by Searching Additional Paternity Leave.

The company is generous and i am not here to offend anyone and i am not trying to offend any mothers. My point is merely surely the enhanced leave my company pays should be equal as the law states that both mat leave and Pat leave are for the same purpose, but are the mother and father equivalent. My wife's company paid her the stat mat pay for the whole of her pregnancy she didn't get any enhancements or top ups, and they do the same for the Fathers who take the leave within the company, But my company pay full pay for 26 weeks for a Mother and 6 weeks for the Father, its a big difference. I am only trying to ensure that the company i work for plays by the rules and offers equality and fairness to all employees as money is tight and everyone could do with the extra pay.

Miabsdad

TrickyWicky wrote: »

To be honest I think they're being generous anyway letting you have time off. Men never used to get time off to bond with their children at all and lets face it, you've not had to push it out of your ding-dong like a woman has to (and then taking time to recover).

If you had to push a coffee pot out of your schlong then I'd probably agree with you that you need more time off but to be honest in a time of recession when the rest of us are scratching around for bread crumbs I think you should realise just how well off you do have it.

I have taken the time off to be with my daughter, this also means saving on childcare for the time I'm off and so on, I'm no better off than anyone else on this type of leave as i receive the basic that the government says, my problem is the employer will enhance pay for some then not others despite the leave being taken for the same reason.

mynameistallulah

TrickyWicky wrote: »

To be honest I think they're being generous anyway letting you have time off. Men never used to get time off to bond with their children at all and lets face it, you've not had to push it out of your ding-dong like a woman has to (and then taking time to recover).

If you had to push a coffee pot out of your schlong then I'd probably agree with you that you need more time off but to be honest in a time of recession when the rest of us are scratching around for bread crumbs I think you should realise just how well off you do have it.

I like you!

The whole situation with parental leave is becoming ridiculous. Goodness knows what Europe will inflict on us next ...

Miabsdad

mynameistallulah wrote: »

I like you!

The whole situation with parental leave is becoming ridiculous. Goodness knows what Europe will inflict on us next ...

Parental leave is a different thing to Additional Paternity leave.

dandelionclock30

Total !!!! take, you are lucky to get anything at all, why should you get paid as much as the mother who will be primary carer?
Start making waves at work and carrying on about it will just make them find a reason to get rid of you when you do return.
What about grandparents and friends of baby, should they be allowed time off and paid the same as the Mother as well.! Also what about the neighbours can they claim also?.
Your making yourself look like a right moneygrabber.

mynameistallulah

Miabsdad wrote: »

Parental leave is a different thing to Additional Paternity leave.

I am well aware that there is yet another provision for PL (yes, even more time off!), but they all come under the same legal framework.

Miabsdad

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

Total !!!! take, you are lucky to get anything at all, why should you get paid as much as the mother who will be primary carer?
Start making waves at work and carrying on about it will just make them find a reason to get rid of you when you do return.
What about grandparents and friends of baby, should they be allowed time off and paid the same as the Mother as well.! Also what about the neighbours can they claim also?.
Your making yourself look like a right moneygrabber.

Im not a money grabber, my wife has returned to work so whilst she is working i am the main carer for our child, and because i am the father you are saying i am lucky i get anything at all, why is that?

The law says i can have this leave which me and my wife agreed on taking 6 months each, to both have time with our little one, all i am saying is if my employer enhances this for a mother why not the father, it is pretty straight forward, its about equality in the work place, giving fathers the rights they are entitled to and all i am saying is that we should be entitled to the same pay as each other as the leave is for the same reason, to care for the child.

I am entitle to the leave.... I am enjoying the leave.... all i am saying is as i am on the leave why because i am a father on the leave should my family suffer because i am on the leave not the mother.