Paternity leave reaches three months

A new government bill published today includes measures to give fathers of newborn babies up to three months paid paternity leave.

17:20 19 October 2005

A new government bill published today includes measures to give fathers of newborn babies up to three months paid paternity leave.

The government's plans also see a further three months unpaid leave for fathers, as well as the promised extension of maternity leave from six to nine months.

Men are now entitled to two weeks' leave, with about 60 per cent taking up the offer.

A further change to current working practice legislation is a new flexible working rights regime for adult carers.

Fathers opting to take paternity leave will be entitled to an allowance of 106 a week for a specific period. The paternity payment will be made possible by revising the current statutory maternity allowance, allowing for payments to be made to fathers.

Trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson, who unveiled the proposals, said: "Today's bill delivers on our commitment to help working parents balance the demands of their job with caring for their children by introducing a modern framework of rights and responsibilities that offers real choice and flexibility."

Daniela Reale, policy and campaigns manager at Daycare Trust, said: "We welcome the new bill, which will give families greater flexibility over how they manage their work and caring responsibilities when children are very young."

But the Federation of Small Businesses and the British Chambers of Commerce have both claimed that they are "very concerned" by the proposals.

The Forum of Private Business concurs, with chief executive Nick Goulding revealing that he does not believe the government has thought through its plans and the burden it would place on business.

Speaking on the Today programme, Mr Goulding said: "We think that the proposals for sharing the leave between fathers and mothers give rise to a whole range of difficulties for the businesses concerned.

"These problems start because you have two different employers who don't have communication between themselves and nor should they. The proposals expect that the employers are going to continue administering this."

Under the new rules, certain businesses could lose staff for many months at a time, with the added pressure of maintaining full salary payment to fathers, something Mr Goulding claims could present serious problems.