Call for business views on shared parental leave and flexible working

Employment relations minister Jo Swinson has announced the 12-week consultation, which she said will look at how the new system will work and how it will fit with current arrangements for maternity and paternity leave and adopters. This will influence how the government legislates under the Children and Families Bill 2013, introduced earlier this month which includes the proposals for shared parental leave and flexible working. The minister said: "Current workplace arrangements for maternity leave are old-fashioned and rigid. Our measures for shared parental leave and flexible working give us a great opportunity to make our workforce even more flexible, help working families and boost economic growth." Key features of the consultation include: employment protection on the right to return to the same job; eligibility for shared parental leave; and whether the one-year limit on the right to shared parental leave and pay should run from the child's birth date or the start of maternity leave. In addition, Acas is inviting views on a draft code of practice for the right to request flexible working. Under the government's proposals, announced in November 2012, the right to request flexible working will be extended to all employees who have worked for their employer for 26 weeks or more. Employers are obliged to consider all requests in a reasonable manner. Changes are due to come into force in 2014. The government has asked Acas to produce a code of practice to help businesses manage this new extended right. Click the links below to see more on both consultations.