Employers fail to back paternity leave

Few employers are currently embracing paternity leave, presenting the new government with a significant challenge in implementing its ideas on flexible parental leave, research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has shown.

Only two out of five (40%) of organisations offer working fathers two weeks’ leave at or near the full rate of pay. Meanwhile, around a quarter (24%) offer no paid paternity leave beyond the two-week statutory level, the CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook ‘Employer Focus’ survey of 800 respondents found.

Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats committed to introducing flexible parental leave in their manifestos, involving some ability to transfer leave from mothers to fathers.

Mike Emmott, employee relations adviser at the CIPD, said “The intractable challenge to both the government and employers lies in encouraging more working fathers to take up their entitlements to paid paternity leave.

“If flexible parental leave is going to become a reality, we need a step-change in the reward policies of UK organisations that encourages more fathers to take their statutory rights.

“This is something that will only be achieved through cultural change — and legislation is emphatically not the answer. The new government will have to think imaginatively if it is to nudge and lead this change.”

www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2010/05/employers-not-backing-paternity-leave-cipd-survey-finds.htm