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Work and Families Bill

On these Benches we support the thrust of the amendment. It is perfectly reasonable that sensible contact should be maintained between the employee and the employer for many good reasons. I had a conversation about the amendment with the noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, yesterday. Unfortunately, he had to leave the Committee for good reasons, so I shall pass on a good point that he made: that it would be desirable if someone could phase in their return to work without losing the benefit for the time that they want to remain at home with the baby. For example, after the first six months, one day a week back at work would help to phase in the return to full-time work, and give the employee an opportunity to catch up on developments in the business or undertake training necessary to move forward with the business. The business may well have moved forward during six months of maternity leave—particularly an IT business. The noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, suggested asking the Government whether there were any plans to allow someone to do something like that without the risk of losing benefit.