Media and Press

Transferable paternity leave ‘could be a nightmare for small firms’
Mon 1st Feb 10 - 9:01

As featured on PeopleMangement.co.uk, James Brockett, 29 January 2010.

Regulations giving new fathers the right to transfer parental leave from their partner could be a nightmare for smaller employers to administer, lawyers have warned.

Yesterday the government unveiled plans under which fathers could be eligible for up to six months’ paternity leave, three of them paid, if their partner returns to work and they transfer over the second half of their leave.

The changes are due to come into force in 2011, and the government have predicted that only 6 percent of fathers will take up the option of extra leave. But Darren Sherborne, head of employment at Rickerbys, told PM that the regulations could be problematic to administer.

“The changes will make planning resources very difficult in smaller- and medium-sized firms,” said Sherborne. “Such firms do not in my experience accept the government’s reassurances that few fathers will take up the right. The question must be asked that if so few will avail themselves of the right, what is the point in introducing it?”

Sherborne said that while truly interchangeable leave could be seen as a step towards equality, it was questionable whether it was a step that society or employers were ready for.

“Small employers will be feeling beleaguered and besieged by yet more changes and the inevitable difficulty in resourcing yet more of the workforce with a right not to attend work,” he concluded.

His view was echoed by Jennifer Smith, Employment Solicitor at Manchester law firm Ralli. She said: “It is unclear exactly how employers will administer the new rules, particularly how communication between the mother's employer and the father's employer will work in practice. Employers will need to start planning for the changes now, in order to minimise the impact that these new proposals will have on their businesses. The reality is almost certainly going to prove cumbersome for employers, particularly small businesses, as it likely to involve a greater administrative burden.”