New regulations giving extended legal rights to working parents will be problematic when introduced in April, employers questioned in a recent survey say.
The Work and Families Act 2006 extends maternity and adoption pay from six to nine months and extends the right to request flexible working to carers of adults. It also allows the government to extend paternity leave rights and maternity pay to 12 months.
Only around one in 10 of the employers questioned by CIPD/KPMG believe the Act’s provisions will benefit their organisations, with smaller employers more likely than larger employers to cite difficulties. Almost two-thirds (64%) think the paternity leave provisions will cause some (48%) or significant (16%) difficulties while 57% think the maternity and adoption pay provisions will cause problems.
Only 4% of employers think the new right for carers to request flexible working will cause significant difficulties, although 36% expect this to cause some difficulty. However, 35% strongly favour extending the right to all employees. 51% consider themselves prepared to implement the Act’s provisions. Just 7% consider themselves poorly prepared.
Bird & Bird consultant Jeremy Nixon says: “Although smaller employers are more likely to see potential problems, even within larger organisations people tend to work in small teams and if members of these teams are given extra rights to take time off work this can create difficulties.
“We also see issues with the administration of the scheme whereby mothers and fathers can transfer leave between them.
Employers are likely to regard this as further red tape which they will need to manage in the increasingly competitive and globalised economy.”
