MONEY COMMENT
New Rights For Parents

By Jane Mack (TMFJane)
April 7, 2003

Now that the new tax year has started, parents will find themselves with a selection of new rights aimed at improving family life. They were announced more than a year ago but have only just now been implemented but the changes are welcome news for parents, whether in work or not.

For a start, new maternity rights now entitle women with babies due on or after 6 April to an increase in maternity pay – up from £75 to £100 a week. There's also an extension to paid maternity leave with the statutory period of paid maternity leave going up to 26 weeks instead of 18. However, employers are still only required to pay 90% of salary for the first six weeks of leave.

Fathers are also now legally entitled to take paid time off work around the time of the birth. Admittedly their new statutory paternity leave amounts to only a fortnight and they're only entitled to claim paternity pay of £100, but it's a welcome acknowledgement of the role of new dads.

What may cause some alarm for employers though is that parents with children under 6 or disabled children aged under 18 will have the legal right to request a flexible working pattern. Employers are now obliged by law to seriously consider requests for shorter or more flexible hours from qualifying parents.

It doesn't provide an automatic right to work flexibly as some employers simply may not be able to accommodate the relevant members of staff. But, employers receiving applications from staff who have worked for them continuously for at least 26 weeks at the date the application is made have a legal duty to genuinely consider agreeing to a change in the hours they work, the times when they are required to work or allowing them to work from home.

It will result in a permanent change to the terms and conditions of employment so workers need to think carefully about what they may be giving up.

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