Legal advice: From here to paternity

Who will be left holding the baby if discussions on extended paternity leave are implemented?

By Rebecca Caws of thePublican.com's team of legal experts from London solicitor Joelson Wilson.​

The traditional concept of the man going out to work while the woman remains at home to raise the family is no longer the norm. Many mothers have to continue working to support their families. That said, while there are a fair number of house husbands, they are still a minority and it is generally the women who take career breaks or give up work to raise the family.

But the emphasis may soon shift. It was recently announced that the government is considering increasing paternity leave (currently two weeks paid leave) to up to six months unpaid leave. This would be available only if the mother of the baby chooses to return to work before the end of her maternity leave.

A number of business representatives have already criticised the proposals, suggesting they will make Britain even less competitive and increase the administrative burden, particularly for smaller businesses. But what could this mean in practice?

Negative effect​

The main issue must be whether this will affect key employees. If you own a bar and the manager has the right to take six months leave you may be concerned about the effect this will have on business. How much will it cost you to find a replacement? How long will it take to train the replacement to a satisfactory level? Will there be a negative effect upon team morale and customer numbers?

These are valid concerns, but let's remember that if your manager is a woman these issues already exist, yet businesses have learnt to cope with them. Admittedly the proposals would increase the number of workers who could potentially take leave following the birth of their child, but if a system is in place to cope with maternity leave, why not extend it to apply to paternity leave too?

Many businesses find that family-friendly work ethics lead to a happier workforce, which in turn can be good for business.There are also issues for men who decide to take extended paternity leave, the question of pay aside. Will your boss question your commitment to the business? How will your colleagues react? Will you feel out of touch when you return to work?

Once again, these are issues that women already face, but the law offers women some protection in these situations. We will have to wait and see what sort of protection the draft provisions will offer to men before we can judge whether unpaid paternity leave is an attractive prospect for them.

For those still worried about the implications of longer paternity leave, take heart - even if the proposals become law this is not set to happen until 2007 at the earliest. And who knows whether a significant percentage of men will actually take advantage of it?