Family-friendly policies
Patricia Hewitt has announced plans to increase maternity pay for mothers.
In a fresh bid to highlight Labour's family-friendly credentials, the trade secretary said maternity pay is to be boosted by £1,400.
Department of Trade and Industry
Patricia Hewitt said: "It's not the job of government to tell mothers, or fathers, how to live their lives, but it is our job to give them more choices and more support so they can give their children the best start in life.
"Family and working life is changing. It's no longer the case that dad works while mum stays at home.
"Today, often both parents have to work and greater flexibility is needed. Helping hard working parents give their children the best start and give carers greater help is not only good for families but is good news for our economic growth and prosperity.
"Employers find greater flexibility suits their business needs well. At a time of record employment, and in the war for talent, they attract and retain good staff, matching their business needs with the needs of the individual, which helps generate a more committed working environment.
"We've already introduced the best ever package of family friendly working rights - and this goes even further. This consultation builds on our commitment to help working families give their children the best start in life."
Stakeholder Response: Chartered Institute of Personnel andDevelopment (CIPD)
Rebecca Clake, CIPD organisation and resourcing adviser, said:
"There is a danger that further extension of statutory provisions alone could contribute to increased discrimination unless they are accompanied by efforts to educate employers on the business case.
"CIPD research shows that the rate of pay has a major influence on whether or not fathers take paternity leave, with less than half (46 per cent) of fathers saying they would take paternity leave at the current rate.
"However at full pay, the proportion of fathers saying they would take paternity leave increases to 87 per cent.
"Allowing fathers to share a portion of the maternity leave makes sense as part of a wider strategy to improve childcare.
"It could also help to combat discrimination and address the twin policy goals of a productive workforce and a supportive family environment. Work now needs to be done to make sure this works in practice without creating an unnecessary heavy administrative burden.
"Employers should not promote flexible working as an end in itself, but look for opportunities to use flexible working where employee needs and business needs coincide.
"It is important that employees understand that there will be circumstances where a request for flexible working cannot be accommodated, due to operational pressures."
Stakeholder Response: Institute of Directors (IoD)
"A recent survey found that 75 per cent of employers believe that it is morally right to have family-friendly practices, believing such policies improve productivity, staff-retention, employee recruitment and staff morale.
"What is clear from our own research is that employers generally want to adopt family friendly policies, not only because it is the right thing to do but also because it makes good business sense.
"That said, businesses, particularly smaller businesses, need much more assistance from government to implement these policies. We strongly welcome the Government's proposal to pay maternity pay directly through the Inland Revenue. The IoD has been arguing for this for sometime."
Stakeholder Response: Business Services Association
"Pressure from local and central government to decrease the cost of service provision has a discernable knock-on effect on workforce numbers and on the ability for government to achieve its goal to modernise public services."
Stakeholder Response: British Retail Consortium
A spokesman for the British Retail Consortium said: "The great flexibility offered and change-accommodating attitude makes the retail sector very attractive, especially to women.
"Flexibility is important in any workplace but it is equally important that this comes at a realistic and workable price, especially to those smaller retailers that find it more difficult to absorb additional costs.
"The differences between small and large retailers in terms of company policies can be significant and a raft of new employment legislations will always prove more of a challenge for smaller retailers."
Stakeholder Response: 4Children
Anne Longfield, chief executive of children's charity 4Children, said: "4Children welcomes the government’s commitments to parents and children, including extending maternity leave to nine months and extending parental leave for parents with older children.
"Support is needed for parents when they are starting out with young children but most parents feel extreme pressure when supporting older children and juggling a working life too.
"Our research has consistently shown that older children want to spend more time with their parents and one in three parents feel they don’t have time to spend communicating and listening to their children.
"Employers also need to be flexible not just when parents have young children but when their children grow older too. Recruiting and retaining high quality staff is vital to the success of an organisation.
"Working parents now make up approximately 40 per cent of the
"The government’s changes implemented today at last bring some relief to parents of older children who have struggled for so long to balance the hidden pressures of supporting their teenagers with their work responsibilities.
"This is made more difficult still for the thousands of parents who also have care responsibilities for their own parents – the so called sandwich generation.
"These changes recognise that business fares best if it can support staff to work and balance their care responsibilities.
"Any cost to employers will quickly be regained through the retention of a loyal and skilled workforce."
Stakeholder Response: Forum of Private Business
Nick Goulding, FPB chief executive said: "Small businesses need to know precisely what questions they will be able to ask employees on maternity leave. We welcome the move, but it needs to be made clear to employers what exactly they can ask and whether they can insist on a firm commitment as to when, or if, an employee is intending to return to work at the end of maternity leave. The Equal Opportunities Commission recently suggested that it would be helpful for small businesses to be able to question employees about returning to work – we look forward to Patricia Hewitt announcing when businesses will have this opportunity and exactly what questions they will be able to ask.
"At the moment, employers are banned from making such contact, which is absolutely ludicrous for small firms. The uncertainty this causes is hellishly difficult. Small firms need to know when the employee is returning to work so they can plan for it and organise the replacement staff accordingly. With a small firm operating with five or so employees, staff knowledge and their grasp of the businesses is fundamental to its success. Losing a member of staff for long periods can have appalling consequences for small businesses - particularly if that staff member has no intention of returning to work after six months' maternity leave."
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