House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

EmploymentBill new rights for working parents

We are writing to you about aspects ofthe Employment Bill (HL Bill 54) which is due to be in Grand committee on March13, 18, 20 and 21.

The GMB trade union is a general unionwith 700,000 members working across all sectors of the economy. We have longcampaigned for better rights for working parents and as such we welcome theprovisions in the bill on maternity, paternity and adoption leave and onrequests for flexible working after the birth of a child.

However, there are a number of aspectsof the Bill as currently drafted which cause us concern:

1. Exclusion ofsome categories of worker

The first isthat once again the Government is seeking to restrict key employment rights tothose legally classified as employees rather using the broader categoryworkers. We can see no justification for excluding parents, on the basis oflegal technicalities as to their employment status, from rights which aredesigned to allow people to work and support their new families

2. Inflexibilityin the paternity leave scheme (Part 1,Chapter 1, Clause 1)

GMB has aconsiderable number of low-paid workers in membership for whom the right totake paid paternity leave will make a major difference. It is therefore ofgreat concern that the Bill proposes to make this new entitlement so inflexiblethat we fear full take-up could be compromised. This is chiefly because theBill requires the leave to be taken in a single block of two weeks, otherwiseit is lost (Section 80A (3))

Many fathersor those intending to play a parenting role would be able to support the motherand child much better if they were able to arrange their leave more flexibly.For example, they may want to take a few days at the time of the birth but thenreturn to work if mother and baby are to be kept in, or readmitted to hospitalfor any length of time. That way they can reserve the rest of their leave forthe crucial time when mother and baby return home and 24-hour maternity careceases. This is an absolutely critical time for families as good help andsupport for mothers in the early days at home leads to fewer problems later on.

We thereforepropose that leave should be able to be taken in blocks of one day. We alsobelieve that in many cases this would be more flexible for employers to manage,especially small employers.

Furthermore,we believe the Bill should be amended so that leave can be taken within 56 daysof the actual birth (as currently in Section 80A (4) or from the expected week of confinement ie the date the babywould have been actually due. This is because when babies are born prematurelythey often have to spend long periods in hospital during which it may be moreeffective for the father (or person with equivalent parental role) to work, andagain reserve paternity leave for when mother and baby return home.

3. Right torequest flexible working (Part 4,Clause 47)

We have anumber of reservations about this provision, not least the fact that we wouldhave liked to see a much stronger right to work flexibly, rather than simply torequest. However, we would like to draw your attention to a provision which webelieve will seriously hamper the effectiveness of this right, even in itslimited form. The Bill requires a worker to explain what effect, if any, theemployee thinks making the change applied for would have on his employer andhow, in his opinion, any such effect might be dealt with (Section 80F (2) (c)).

We wouldstrongly argue that asking an employee to investigate and explain what effect achange in their working practices will have on the employers business is tooonerous a requirement as employees will often not have access to the necessaryoperational information. Elsewhere in the Bill it is rightly for the employerto present evidence about why the request cannot be met drawing on businessconditions. The employee then has the right to appeal against that decision andat this stage it would be appropriate for the employee to present evidence ofhis or her assessment of the business effect.

We would begrateful for any assistance you could give us in pursuing these points and wewould be delighted to discuss these or other aspects of the Bill with youfurther.