It is quite refreshing to see a chapter of an employment White Paper sincerely devoted to the conflicting pressures of work and parenthood and an acknowledgement of the need to adopt an integrated, rather than piecemeal approach. There is a clear identification of the issues in the employment field: low family incomes, excessively long working hours and greater flexibility for parents.
So far so good. No right thinking person can oppose 'Family Friendly Policies' which are universally acknowledged as a good thing. But the consensus cracks when examining what the term should mean in practice and the extent of coercion needed to enforce it.
The strategy in the White Paper relies mainly on existing measures initiated by Government and European requirements following the signing of the Social Chapter. There is little that is new and no mention of sex discrimination and equal pay legislation or policies. While women bear the brunt of child rearing responsibilities and suffer from 'pin money' syndrome, it is a glaring omission.
It is to be hoped that the Equal Opportunities Commission recommendations, when finalised, can be added on later to rectify the gap. It is only through effective enforcement of equal pay legislation that parents will be able to truly share the burden of childcare and use equality in the labour market to create equality at home.
The White Paper contains excellent, essential and long overdue proposals for improving maternity rights, these have been championed by trade unions, Maternity Alliance and (even) the judiciary:
One year qualifying service for extended maternity leave (29 weeks after the birth of the child) to fit in with the planned lowered service requirement for unfair dismissal. This will give added protection to a large section of the female workforce.
The continuity of contract during maternity leave which has created problems for women, managers, Tribunals and lawyers. By establishing continuity of contract all sides will benefit from certainty and women will gain added protection both during maternity leave and on their return to work. It also ensures consistency with the 18 week general maternity leave period for those with less than one year's service.
The provision of 18 weeks maternity leave (an increase from the current 14 weeks) for those with less service with that employer. This not only ties in with the period of statutory maternity pay but also lessens the risk of women being forced to return to work sooner than is good for them or their children.
The proposed simplification of the employees notification obligations around maternity leave are welcome. Much will depend on the detail of the amendments: they should be both simplified and non-compliance should not automatically deprive women of their rights.
The implementation of the Parental Leave Directive is one of the three European measures which forms the backbone of the White Paper strategy. The other being the Part Time Workers Directive and the Working Time Directive.
The Parental Leave Directive is to be implemented by December 1999 and will provide three months parental leave, unpaid and time off for family emergencies coupled with anti-victimisation provisions for those making use of the rights. The research so far suggests that parental leave that is unpaid will not be extensively taken up and that some mechanism for ensuring that the leave is paid will be necessary to give effect to the intention behind the Directive. Work also needs to be done to ensure maximum flexibility for employees in using the time off provisions to cater for their particular parental needs.
The effectiveness of the Family Friendly Policies will partly depend upon securing proper implementation of wider policy commitments beyond employment law as well as the need to strengthen and underpin labour legislation and discrimination law.