Posted by HomeDadUK on Monday, February 22, 2010 – 10:04 pm
Flexible working is increasingly important to today’s fathers who want to be more involved in taking care of their children, according to information published today by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
More than nine out of ten dads with children aged five or under believe it is important that fathers have the option to take paid paternity leave. And nearly two thirds believe that a dad’s relationship with their baby will suffer if they are not at home after the birth.
But it is not just fathers with young children who want to be involved. Read More »
Posted by HomeDadUK on Thursday, January 28, 2010 – 1:28 pm
New rights for fathers to take up to six months’ paternity leave, three of which will be paid at the same rate as statutory maternity leave, are due to be announced by the Government.
Coming into force from April 2011, the time off can be taken during the second half of a baby’s first year if the mother returns to the workplace. At the moment, mothers can take nine months paid maternity leave, and a further three months unpaid. The new scheme will mean that if mothers return to work after six months, fathers can take the following six months as paternity leave, half of which will be paid.
Gordon Brown said the plan was about “giving couples more freedom, dads more rights and children more time with the two people who love them most”.
Since April 2003, fathers have been entitled to take two weeks’ paid leave, but the Government has conceded that take-up is likely to be low, with less than one in 16 fathers expected to leave work for a period of full-time childcare.
Ministers tried to reassure small businesses that the impact will be minimal, with less than 1% expected to be affected by the changes. But the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) were reported by the Daily Telegraph to have expressed concern about the costs to business during the economic downturn.
Posted by HomeDadUK on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 – 9:56 am
There has been quite a lot of media coverage as a result of yesterday’s report by the EHRC, including this interesting article in the Guardian.
Quite why names have been changed to protect the unreconstructed father Tom (”‘I’m a man, therefore I don’t do childcare … That’s what my wife does.”) I can’t quite imagine.
Posted by HomeDadUK on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 – 6:00 am
Many British fathers are working long hours, struggling to balance work and family life and fear that requesting flexible working will damage their careers, according to a new report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Although fathers want to take a more active role in caring for their children, four in 10 say they spend too little time with their children.
Forty-five per cent of dads fail to take two weeks’ paternity leave after the birth of their child; the the most common reason is that they can’t afford to. Two in five men fear that asking for flexible working arrangements would result in their commitment to their job being questioned and would negatively affect their chances of a promotion.
The report also points to an opportunity for employers to gain a competitive advantage in recruitment, as two in three fathers consider the availability of flexible working to be important when looking for a new job. Read More »
Posted by HomeDadUK on Monday, October 19, 2009 – 8:02 pm
An organisation called Working Families has put together a manifesto to promote flexible working practices in the workplace.
Their theme is that flexible working is better for families - and better for business - and argues that now we have legislation to support it we should be moving more quickly towards a more modern and better balanced way of working.
