Part of the Governments' election campaign is to concentrate on the enhancement of parental rights. They plan to extend the current maternity leave entitlement from six months, to nine months. Fathers will be allowed to take, if they wish, some of that time too.
Labour is also planning to change the existing flexible working rules. At present, 3.7 million parents with children under 6 can request flexible working terms. If the rules were changed, this would rise to over 9 million.
A recent survey within the Institute of Directors found that 75% of employees believe that it is right to have these policies as it improves productivity, staff retention, employee recruitment and staff morale.
Our view
Accepting that some flexibility is needed for parents, it is fast becoming a red tape nightmare for any business with employees. Is it any wonder that people are moving towards temporary contracts and agency supply?