Employers urged to improve paternity deal for fathers
Katy Morton
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
A campaign to raise fathers' awareness of their rights to paternity leave and to urge employers to top up statutory pay has been launched by pressure group Working Families.
The Take Up Top Up Paternity Leave campaign calls on employers to give fathers full pay for two weeks.
Currently, fathers on statutory paternity pay receive £123.07 a week. They must inform their employer that they want to take leave by the 15th week before the baby is due.
A survey by Working Families and websites Dad.info and Netmums last month found that four out of ten fathers don't take paternity leave. Of these, 72 per cent said they couldn't afford to, 14 per cent said that they didn't have enough length of service with their employer, and 13 per cent said they were self-employed and not entitled to paid leave.
The results also showed that many fathers who could not afford leave took holiday pay instead.
Working Families chief executive Sarah Jackson said, 'We are glad to see a promise to consult on the eligibility for paternity leave in the Green Paper. But we also need adequate levels of pay if fathers are to be encouraged to take leave. That's where employers can come in.
'Many good employers offer contractual pay on top of statutory maternity pay. We want many more employers to "top up" statutory paternity pay to full pay for the two weeks. Time with a new baby is a great gift to a new family and employers will reap the benefit of motivated employees.'
Further information: www.workingfamilies.org.uk
