Daddy Day Care

21 October 2009

The government has recently announced an intention to move forward with the consultation on permitting new mothers to transfer the second six months of their maternity leave entitlement to the baby’s father. The proposals are fairly radical, and could be viewed as the biggest step towards equality in the workplace which has taken place for some time.

Under the proposals, mothers would be able to transfer the second six months of their maternity leave (usually called additional maternity leave “AML”) to the father of the baby. The right to maternity pay would also transfer, so that the first three months of that AML would be paid to the father at the same rate as statutory maternity pay.

While it remains uncertain how many parents would wish to exercise these new rights, the fact that employers would be just as likely to have a male employee off for six months on maternity leave as they would a female employee, really does go some way to redress the balance of the sexes in the workplace.

The current intention is for the law to be enforced by April 2010, and to become effective for parents of children due on or after 3 April 2011.

While logistically this may present a challenge for many employers, it is surely a step in the right direction for equality in the workplace

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