Statutory Instrument – 22/01/2010
The main effect of these draft regulations is to implement the government’s previously announced intention to give new mothers the right to transfer the second 6 months of their 12 months maternity leave entitlement to the father.
Statutory Maternity Pay (£123.06 per week, rising to £124.88 in April 2010, payable for 9 months in total) will effectively continue even if part of the 9 months relates to this “transferred” leave. Under current law men are entitled to two weeks paid paternity leave.
Although the regulations will come into effect on 6th April 2010 the provisions noted above and below will have effect only in relation to children whose expected week of birth begins on or after 3rd April 2011. However back up provisions (for example a new right not to suffer a detriment by reason of exercising the basic rights noted here and a related extension of the automatically unfair dismissal provisions in ERA 1996 s.99) apply from 6th April 2010.
The Work and Families Act 2006 introduces a new entitlement for employees who are fathers or partners of mothers or adopters to take additional paternity leave in the first year of their child’s life or the first year after the child’s placement for adoption. These draft regulations will confer the right to take additional paternity leave, following the birth of a child, to fathers or spouses and partners (of either sex) of the child’s mother. In the case of adoption, the entitlement is granted to persons who have been matched with the child for adoption and who are spouses or partners (of either sex) of the adopter who has elected to take adoption leave (defined as “the adopter” for the purpose of these Regulations).
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