Family Friendly Policies in Keeping with the Law - Coursework Example

EMPLOYMENT LAW NEWSLETTER FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES A REPORT PRESENTED BY MONIKA 13TH MAY 2009 Table of Contents Introduction 2 Maternity Leave & Pay 3 Paternity Leave & Pay 7 Flexible Working - The Right to Ask & the Duty to Consider 10 Parental Leave and Time off for Dependants 12 INTRODUCTION: Employment law: Employment law or labour law refers to the body of law that defines the relationship between employer and employee and determines the rights and obligations related to both the parties to the contract. Employment law also includes individual employment contracts, the application of Tort and contract doctrines, and a large group of statutory regulation on issues such as the right to organise and negotiate collective bargaining agreements, protection from discrimination, wages and hours, and health and safety. (thefreedictionary.com) Work and Family Act 2006: The Work and Family Bill was presented in the House of Commons for first hearing in October, 2005. The Work and Families Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons on 18 October 2005 and it was brought to the House of Lords on 19 January 2006. The Bill contains several family friendly proposals and these proposals range from those that are necessary to implement EC family friendly legislation, to those that the current UK Government considers to be desirable or necessary in the current labour market conditions. The bill got the final royal approval on 21st June, 2006 and obtained the status of Work and Family Act 2006 from the same day. The basic motive behind the introduction of the Act was to announce more flexible work hours for the employees with additional financial support, so that not only they could pay due heed to their work, but also could be able to give extra time to their family matters and domestic affairs particularly related to the infant child. It is also supportive for the employees in maintaining the work-life balance in their everyday life. Work-life balance”, Russell & Bowman submit, “is an important area of human resource management that is receiving increasing attention from government, researchers, management and employee representatives and the popular media. (2000: p 31) The Act contains maternity leave, paternity leave and off-work hours with pay, along with the flexible work hours particularly for the regular and permanent employees working in a firm, a company or an organisation. Maternity Leave & Pay: Eighteenth chapter of Employment Rights Act 1996 discusses the provisions related to the family friendly policies, which have been amended in the Work & Family Act (WFA) 2006. The British parliament has presented the following proposals in respect of employees’ benefits: The extension of maternity leave and maternity allowance from six to nine months. To allow fathers paternity leave and statutory pay if the mother returns to work after six months but before the end of her maternity leave. In effect the father could take three months paternity leave on the state allowance, which is currently £106. (Hunter, 2005: p 3) In addition, issuance of full pay during maternity leave is also the part of new employment policy. The government is interested in providing the working women with a relaxed and flexible work place, so that they could keep balance between domestic and professional life. Women make up nearly half of the total population of every society. They render their services in domestic chores, professional activities, business forums and political platforms. Women are the major sufferers in the nuclear family set up of western societies where their responsibilities have multiplied to many times. Since Work and Family Act (WFA, 2006) was introduced keeping in view the responsibilities of the working women, the Act particularly announces benefits and relaxations for the female workers. Employees view the benefits or working conditions that they provide to help employees balance the family and work domains as work-life benefits. (Bardoel, Tharenou & Moss, 1998: p 84) Consequently, the Act discusses the maternity leave with pay for all working women without displaying any discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity or religious belief. Hence, section 35(2) of the Act describes maternity allowance is payable), for “26 weeks” substitute “52 weeks”. The Act encompasses the following areas: Maternity leave, on getting pregnant, with full pay as a regular employee All the benefits and privileges entitled to the pregnant workers including medical check up and time off hours Protection from discrimination on the basis of sex Job security and prohibition of dismissal on becoming pregnancy STATUTORY MATERNITY RIGHTS Work & Family Act provides protection to the pregnant workers from discriminatory behaviour exercised by the employers. The discriminatory attitude includes termination from the job, undue obstacle in promotion, payment deduction due to off work hours and maternity leave. The WFA provides relief to the pregnant women in the following fields: compensated time off for antenatal care Maternity Leave Maternity Benefits Security against unjust behaviour or removal from office Maternity Pay Period: Section 4 of the WFA describes the maternity leave period with pay. According to the section: Provision under subsection (3)(a) shall secure that an employee is not entitled to more than 26 weeks leave in respect of a child. Hence, the companies are bound to approve twenty six weeks leave the pregnant working women with some part of the pay. It not only supports them take care of themselves and give birth to a healthy child, but also mitigate their pecuniary embarrassments created due to unavailability of apposite funding necessary for the medical check up and household expenditure. In addition, the same maternity pay has been prescribed in case of adopting an infant baby. JOB SECURITY DURING PREGNANCY: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act 1978 looks for the employers to equally treat the pregnant employees, as they treat the employees undergoing some other illness or disability. The employers are prohibited to discourage the pregnant employees in such a way that could hurt them and force them leave their job subsequently. In addition, the provisions of the Work & Families Act strictly prohibit the termination of the pregnant women on the basis of their pregnancy. The motive behind this clause is to discourage discrimination between the employees on the basis of their gender. The British parliament has presented the following proposals in respect of pregnant employees’ benefits: The extension of maternity leave and maternity allowance from six to nine months. To allow fathers paternity leave and statutory pay if the mother returns to work after six months but before the end of her maternity leave. In effect the father could take three months paternity leave on the state allowance, which is currently £106. (Hunter, 2005: p 3) In addition, issuance of some part of the pay during maternity leave to the permanent employees is also the part of new employment policy. The government is interested in providing the working women with a relaxed and flexible work place, so that they could keep balance between domestic and professional life. Work & Family Act clearly prohibits dismissal of workers provided they are pregnant or condemns Section 60 of the 1978 Act, Morris & Nott observe, provides that if an employee is dismissed due to the reason she is pregnant, or for some other reason that is related to her pregnancy, it will amount to unfair dismissal. (1991: p 96) Thus, the Act gives the women job security and relief from work during pregnancy. MATERNITY ALLOWANCE: Since pregnancy is considered as the period of excitement for the family, it also invites challenges and difficulties along with it. It has aptly been observed that the pregnant employees are seldom treated in a pleasant way by the employers due to the very reality that the pregnant employees are unable to pay due heed to their duties and obligations in such a way as the normal and healthy workers and employees. But the WFA proclaims not only equal behaviour with pregnant workers, but also suggests maternity allowance for them, provided the employer has more than fifty employees in his organisation. Under Work and Families Act 2006 (WFA), statutory maternity pay (SMP) and maternity allowance will all be payable for a period of 39 weeks, up from 26 weeks, for babies due on or after 1 April. (Hilpern, 2007: p 30) TIME OFF AND ANTENATAL CARE: Work & Family Act 2006 sanctions time off work to all the pregnant workers for their antenatal care. The term antenatal is the product of 20th century, where the latest technological advancements suggest proper medical check up to the women expecting babies. The time off is entitled to be paid by the employer, according to the WFA. But it is the legal and moral obligation of the worker to inform the employer regarding the appointment she has with her registered medical advisor. Antenatal care includes medical examination, appointments with the employee’s mid-wife, antenatal classes, relaxation and parent craft classes. (Retrieved from equalityhumanrights.com) In case an employee misses her appointment to her medical advisor, the employer is not accountable for her mistake. PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATIVE BEHAVIOUR: Employment and labour laws strictly condemn discriminative behaviour towards employees on the bases of the caste, class, community, race, region, religion, ethnicity, age, gender and social position. No firm or corporation is allowed to reject the selection of a suitable candidate for job on the basis of his complexion, hair colour, sexual orientation or gender. Not only this that an employer cannot make any discriminatory policies for employees, but also he cannot display any direct or indirect discriminative attitude and behaviour against the employees. Indirect discrimination, Thompson’s’ Law Company states, applies to policies and practices which, in reality, disadvantage one gender considerably more than another although on the face of it, they seem to apply to both sexes equally. For example, a requirement to work full time might be more of a bar for women than men. (thompsons.law.co.uk) The 1976 Act prohibits discrimination against employees due to their racial background. In Mandla v Dowell Lee, Smith & Gareth observe, the complainant a Sikh boy, was refused entrance to a private school unless he gave wearing his turban, and had his hair cut, a requirement that conflicted with his religion; the House of Lords held that the Sikhs constitute an ethnic group, within the meaning of the Act, so they could not be restricted from wearing their traditional dresses. (2007: p 331) Hence, the court prohibits the management of school to afflict any condition on any student which belongs to his ethnicity or religion. WFA particularly cares for the pregnant employees on the basis of their health condition. Return to job prior to the end of maternity leave The Act determines the procedure regarding the joining of work before the end of leave. According to the law if a worker, has been on maternity leave, is determined to join his work before his leave expires, she is bound to give her employer eight weeks prior notice, so that the employer can adjust his staff accordingly. The extension in leave also requires prior notice to the administration. PATERNITY LEAVE: The Employment Act 2002 discusses the employees’ rights to paternity leave and pay. The Act is valid from the 6th day of April 2003. Paternity Leave according to Employment Law, is available to an employee who has completed a period of at least 26 weeks qualifying service with the same employer, by the 14th week before the child is expected to be born (or is matched in the case of adoption). Additional conditions are that the mother must have given appropriate notification and qualifies for Statutory Maternity Leave. (Retrieved from compactlaw.co.uk) The pay system and benefits are almost same in case of paternity leave, but number of leaves and off hours are fewer than maternity leave. The basic reason behind this is that mothers are medically not in a position to work and serve at jobs after the birth of a child, while male serve mere the attendants of females, so they have no medical problem, which could stop them from offering their services. On the contrary, males are granted leave with pay in case of serious injury or illness they receive while offering their services at workplace. Moreover, the employment law binds the corporate firms to pay all the bills of the medical treatment of their regular and permanent employees. Though, the statute of law does not force the employers to bear the expenditure of their irregular and newly appointed employees. The main conditions for applying the paternity leave include: 1. Being the biological father of the child 2. Being husband or partner of the child’s mother 3. Adopter of the newly born child It is the legal and ethical obligation of the employee to bring the news regarding the birth of the child at least by the end of the 15th week before the EWC or as soon as adequately workable. The male employee, applying for the paternity leave, must provide the details regarding the birth of the baby including expected week as well as the day from which he intends to apply for the leave. FLEXIBLE WORK HOURS: One of the basic family friendly policies includes the appropriate work hours. Section 12 of the WFA entitles the workers with flexible work hours provided they have children under the age of 18 years, in case the child is unable to take his own care in a proper way. Normal work must not be exceeding 8 hours a day or as agreed by an employer and an employee but not exceeding 48 hours a week. Not exceeding 7 hours a day and not exceeding 42 hours a week are permitted for work which may be harmful to safety and health of an employee i.e. underground work, underwater work, fire work and others. (labour.go.th) The rules of labour law are strict in this regard and bind the entrepreneur fulfil his duties accordingly. In addition, the British government announces the revision in employment law time and again in order to provide the employees the relaxed atmosphere so that they could perform their duties and obligations in a better way. An important theme in current and emerging Government Policy, Bevan et al. submit, is the importance of practices that enable individuals to combine employment and caring responsibilities more effectively. The Green Paper on Supporting Families and that on Meeting the Childcare Challenge, together with the National Carers Strategy places considerable emphasis on the role of employers in ensuring that parents and other carers can combine employment and effective childcare. (1999: p 3) The basic motive behind this all is providing the employees the best possible employment atmosphere so that could exercise their skills, talents and abilities free from all tensions regarding the security and growth of their family members. PERIOD OF PATERNITY LEAVE Work & Family Act offers two week paternity leave to the permanent employees of a company having the staff of more than fifty members. Paternity leave is approved within eight weeks of the child birth. Paternity leave is not granted before the birth of a child. The rate of paternity leave is according to the pay or earning of the employees. 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