Legal News
Parental leave sharing comes into force (1 December 2014)
Date: 01/12/2014
The government’s plans to allow parents to share parental leave come into force today (01/12/14) – meaning that parents whose child is born after 5 April 2015 will have the option to share maternity and paternity leave.
Changes to maternity leave and paternity leave are designed to give parents more flexibility – and enable a partner to end their leave early should they wish to return to work, or if their partner wishes to take the same amount of parental leave.
Couples will receive 50 weeks of parental leave when a child is born and can take the leave as they wish. New mothers will take the first two weeks following the birth, however.
Companies will have no obligation to fathers other than to offer statutory pay for parental leave, however.
Parents-to-be can begin to apply for shared leave from Monday, but leave will not apply until April 2015. Same sex couples will enjoy the same leave entitlement.
Gaenor Bagley from PWC (Price Waterhouse Cooper) told Sky News that sharing parental leave would help take the pressure off women when they interrupt their careers to have a baby.
“Unless we create that equality – unless we level the playing field – we're never going to make it equally likely that you're successful in your career, whether you're a man or a woman.”
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