Flexi time?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

18 March 2011 / Sarah Johnson

Issue: 7457 / Categories: Features , Employment

printer

mail-detail

How flexible are you, asks Sarah Johnson

Although fathers have the right to request flexible working, many feel reluctant to do so because of the stigma attached, according to the deputy prime minister recently. He added that current rules are based on a view of life in which mothers stay at home and fathers are the only breadwinners. Planned consultation will consider both a truly flexible system of shared parental leave the government aims to introduce in 2015 and extending the right to request flexible working to all employees.

More immediate changes are also due. Certain carers of adults and of children under 17 currently have rights to request flexible working. These rights will be extended to carers of children under 18 from April 2011.

In addition, paternity rights are being enhanced. Currently, statutory paternity leave is limited to at most two weeks’ paid leave within 56 days of a child’s birth or placement for adoption. Parents of children whose expected week of birth begins, or who are matched for adoption, on or after 3rd

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content

If you are already a subscriber sign in

...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

Flexi time?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

How flexible are you, asks Sarah Johnson

Although fathers have the right to request flexible working, many feel reluctant to do so because of the stigma attached, according to the deputy prime minister recently. He added that current rules are based on a view of life in which mothers stay at home and fathers are the only breadwinners. Planned consultation will consider both a truly flexible system of shared parental leave the government aims to introduce in 2015 and extending the right to request flexible working to all employees.

More immediate changes are also due. Certain carers of adults and of children under 17 currently have rights to request flexible working. These rights will be extended to carers of children under 18 from April 2011.

In addition, paternity rights are being enhanced. Currently, statutory paternity leave is limited to at most two weeks’ paid leave within 56 days of a child’s birth or placement for adoption. Parents of children whose expected week of birth begins, or who are matched for adoption, on or after 3rd

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content

If you are already a subscriber sign in

...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

SourceURL:

Links:

E-newsletter Sign-Up

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS

Public Accounts Committee warn of ‘extinction’ risk for legal aid

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned

NLJ this week: The insider returns

Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome

NLJ this week: Drawing the line on contempt

After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights

NLJ this week: Stop and search by the numbers

The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains

NLJ this week: Looking back on the prorogation that never was

Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously

back-to-top-scroll