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Work and Families Bill

moved Amendment No. 2:"After Clause 12, insert the following new clause—" ““ORDINARY PATERNITY LEAVE (1)   Section 80A of ERA 1996 (entitlement to paternity leave: birth) is amended as follows. (2)   In subsection (3) after ““leave”” insert ““to be taken together, as two separate weeks or as separate days by agreement with the employer””. (3)   In subsection (4) for ““a period of at least 56 days”” substitute ““a period of at least 182 days and of no more than 365 days””. (4)   After subsection (5) insert— ““(6)   Provision under subsection (5)(c) shall secure that the notice period for taking leave under this section shall be no more than eight weeks.”””” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, the amendment is a composite of various amendments that have been tabled at different stages of the Bill. They all relate to the regulations which surround ordinary paternity leave; that is, the up to two-weeks’ paternity leave which a father is able to take during the first eight weeks of the baby’s life. The amendment introduces three areas of flexibility to the arrangements for that leave. Subsection (2) of the proposed new clause introduces flexibility to how the leave can be taken. With the employer’s agreement, the father could take those two weeks of leave either as two separate weeks, as two weeks together or as individual days. However, I stress that that would be with the employer’s agreement. The two parties must agree on a way in which the father’s leave can be taken that is convenient for the employer. Subsection (3) would give increased flexibility to the period during which the leave can be taken. It would increase it from the first eight weeks of the baby’s life up to at least the first six months of the baby’s life, or possibly up to the first year. Subsection (4) proposes that a reasonable and proportionate amount of notice be given by the father before taking the leave which he has negotiated with his employer. As your Lordships will see, the three areas of the amendment are linked. Their purpose is to increase the number of fathers who take the maximum amount of leave to which they are entitled. As a result, fathers would be able give support to mothers and have the opportunity really to bond with their child. The whole family would be able to bond as a unit. We all know that fathers who are well bonded with their child are highly unlikely to abandon them later in their lives, even if they are separated or divorced from the child’s mother. I think that we all agree that every child needs a father, even when the father does not live with the child. The Government should do anything they can to improve the father’s opportunities to bond with the child in those early days. On Report, the Minister said:"““To argue that the two weeks’ ordinary paternity leave should be taken at a time of the father’s choosing, up to a year following the birth, is to ignore the purpose of ordinary paternity leave””.—[Official Report, 25/4/06; col. 128.]" I really do not agree. It should be for families to decide how best to organise their family life, in relation not just to ordinary paternity leave, but to the rest of their working lives. I refer to our previous debates on the right to ask for flexible working. Far too many parents see very little of their children, which is not good for the family, the parents or the children. We see the result in bad behaviour in schools and even in youth crime. The Minister also said:"““Extending the time over which paternity can be taken would reduce certainty for employers at a time when we are bringing in other measures to increase certainty for employers, such as extending the period of notice women must give if changing their return from maternity leave””. [Official Report, 25/4/06; col. 129.]" In contradiction to that, at the same time, the Government are introducing additional paternity leave. I absolutely welcome that but I cannot say that it contributes to employers’ certainty. I would point out that that additional paternity leave has a notice period of eight weeks. If eight weeks is enough for notice for an employer when the father is intending to take up to six months’ leave then surely it is quite enough for employers to make the necessary managerial decisions and arrangements for a father who is going to take only two weeks. By the way, in subsection (2) of my amendment, he would be taking it at times, on days and in batches of time ““by agreement with the employer””. It all sounds very reasonable to me. In the same column, the Minister said that,"““the leave must be planned for and managed by their respective employers””." Later, he said that,"““the notice period for paternity leave is a measure which protects employers, ensuring they have time to plan””." I have no wish to increase the burden on employers. I have every wish to allow them adequate time to plan for this ordinary paternity leave. I want to encourage fathers to take that leave but the Government clearly believe that eight weeks’ notice is enough, so why will they not give eight weeks’ notice for ordinary paternity leave as well? I have very much welcomed many of the measures in this Bill but I have been disappointed about the Government’s intransigence over certain issues as we have gone through our debates. The Government are clearly not listening to organisations such as Working Families, the Equal Opportunities Commission, the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux and carers’ organisations that are very concerned about the narrow definition of carers, which will particularly affect carers who do not reside with the person they are caring for. This might particularly affect gay people and asylum seekers who are least likely to be closely related to the person for whom they are caring. But that is by the way. If the Government are serious about their wish to support families and give them the choice of how they run their family and working lives, then at this very last throw, I am giving the Government one more opportunity to give me some valid reasons why they will not accept these small increases in flexibility for ordinary paternity leave so that more fathers can actually take it. I beg to move.