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Today Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced that from 2015 the UK will move to a new system of flexible parental leave and that under the plans, new parents will be able to decide how to divide up a year’s worth of parental leave between them. Employers will be eager for details of how this is to work in practice, particularly where they employ temporary workers to provide cover.
As this proposal is clarified in due course we will be providing you with more detailed advice on the practical implications.
Mr Clegg has also stated that there are a million women missing from the economy and that if the UK had the same ratio of female entrepreneurs as the US, the economy would be better off by £42bn. As a result, he also announced today that the right to request flexible working is to be extended to all employees from 2014.
In brief, as the law currently stands, all parents and carers have the right to request a change in their hours or location of work in order to accommodate childcare. This right will be extended to any relative, grandparent or close family friend who wishes to be able to assist with childcare. In other words, all employees will have the right from 2014 to request flexible working hours.
The existing statutory procedure is set to be replaced with a duty on employers to deal with requests in a reasonable manner, and within a ‘reasonable’ period of time. We hope that the publishing of a statutory code of practice will expand upon such wording. We are informed that the 26-week qualifying period of continuous employment will be retained and micro-businesses will not be exempt.
Reactions to the news:
Unions have said the changes would make ‘life easier’ for millions of working parents. The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber said, “Allowing all staff to ask to work flexibly is common sense to good employers”.
The chief policy director of the Confederation of British Industry, Katja Hall stated, “We must ensure the new system is simple to administer, and does not give rise to legal action from fathers seeking parental rights that mirror those available to mothers”.
Employers should remind themselves that although these rights are being extended, there is no current proposal to compel employers to accept requests to work flexibly. Employers may still refuse such requests on a variety of different grounds such as additional costs, detrimental impact on customer service, quality or performance. One key issue in dealing with such requests may be the extension of groups that could make discrimination claims. The biggest risk at present for an employer refusing a flexible working request is a discrimination claim from a disgruntled female employee. Moving forward under the new proposals we may see a more diverse range of discrimination claims from different groups such as age or sexual orientation discrimination to name a few.
As ever we will keep you updated as further detail emerges.
For advice on this. or any other aspect of employment law, contact Ben Mason on 01827 317079 or bmason@pickerings-solicitors.com
