The introduction of shared parental leave (SPL) next month could lead to “a battle of the sexes in the courts”, a leading employment lawyer has warned.
Under SPL, which comes into force on 5 April, a mother can share her 50 weeks of maternity leave with the father after the child is born.
Writing in NLJ this week, Julian Yew, employment partner at Penningtons Manches, says businesses considering operating an enhanced shared parental pay scheme will have to evaluate whether offering enhanced pay to mothers but not fathers would amount to sex discrimination.
If maternity leave can be transferred from a mother to a father, it can no longer be viewed as “purely for the protection of the mother’s health or special relationship with the new born”, Yew says. Men can therefore claim the same financial treatment.
He writes: “The irony in Parliament’s aims to advance equality by introducing SPL is that this will involve a battle of the sexes in the courts.”
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