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Introduction
The
Government intends to make changes to the regulations which govern maternity and
parental leave and to introduce regulations on the new rights to paternity and
adoption leave and pay. The new regulations will include improvements to
existing maternity leave rights and set out the fine detail of how the new
rights to paid time-off for fathers and adoptive parents will operate. Subject
to Parliamentary approval, it is expected that the new rights will be fully
introduced from April 2003.
2.
The new measures have been the subject of extensive consultation since the
publication of the Green Paper entitled Work and Parents: Competitiveness and
Choice
that put forward a range of options to balance improving choice for parents and
competitiveness for business. The development of the new measures has been
informed by the valuable responses to the earlier consultation exercises: the
Government does not envisage substantive changes to the arrangements previously
announced.
However, technical comments on the draft
regulations and model documents
are now sought before the regulations are laid before Parliament. Comments on
the limited number of outstanding policy issues highlighted in this consultation
document are also invited. Responses are requested by 19 July 2002.
3.
The Government is pursuing key options put forward in the Green Paper,
including:
-
simplification
of arrangements for maternity leave and pay
-
introduction
of paid paternity leave
-
introduction
of paid adoption leave
-
changes
to parental leave
These
four options received support from employers and employees and were the subject
of a follow-up consultation on four framework documents.
The Government Responses3
to the consultation exercises were published in late 2001 and set
out how the new maternity, paternity and adoption schemes and new parental leave
scheme will operate.
4.
The majority of the planned improvements to maternity and parental leave can be
introduced through changes to the existing secondary legislation. Where
necessary, new primary legislation underpinning these measures and the new
rights to paternity and adoption leave and pay forms part of the Employment Bill
which is currently undergoing Parliamentary scrutiny.
5. This
document and the associated draft regulations and model documents are available
via the Work and Parents: Competitiveness and Choice website. The website
also includes earlier publications (including the Green Paper, framework
documents and Government Responses) and information on other issues relating to
the Green Paper, such as the new duty on employers to seriously consider
requests for flexible working hours from parents of young children. It can be
found at www.dti.gov.uk/er/review.htm.
6.
Hard copies of this document, draft regulations and draft model documents can be
requested by contacting the Work and Parents Review Team:
Tel:
020 7215 6207
7. Any
comments on the draft regulations, draft model documents and key issues should
be sent by 19 July 2002 to:
Work
and Parents Review Team
Department
of Trade and Industry
1
Victoria Street
London
SW1H
0ET
Fax: 020
7215 5732
8.
Comments received as part of this consultation may be made publicly available in
whole or in part at the Department’s discretion. If you do not wish all or
part of your response (including your identity) to be made public, you must
state in the comments which parts you wish us to keep confidential. Where
confidentiality is not requested, responses may be available to any enquirers,
including from outside the UK, or published by any means, including on the
internet.
Footnotes
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