Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 13
13
Deferred
Review adequacy of legal protections against paternity discrimination and raise awareness of rights.
Recommendation
In implementing reforms that work towards a more gender equal parental leave system, the Government must consider the potential impacts on employment discrimination against fathers and other parents. The Government’s review must consider the adequacy of legal protections against paternity discrimination, including protection from redundancy for those taking paternity leave, and steps needed to raise fathers’ and co-parents’, and their employers’, awareness of legal rights in his area. (Recommendation, Paragraph 72) Reforming shared parental leave
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response broadly discusses how the parental leave and pay review will consider support for various working families facing challenges, including kinship carers, single parents, and those with multiple births, but does not specifically address the adequacy of legal protections against paternity discrimination or awareness of fathers' legal rights.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
A statutory framework is already in place that guarantees eligible employed fathers and partners a protected period of Paternity Leave, ensuring that they cannot be required to work while claiming that leave, or discriminated against by their employer for taking it. The government continues to engage with businesses and other organisations, such as trade unions and Acas, to ensure that legal rights to leave entitlements and legal protections against discrimination are well known and understood. Engagement with these organisations will continue through the parental leave and pay review, and as any changes are made to the system. However, the government recognises that many fathers and partners still feel unable to take their legal entitlement to paternity leave, potentially fearing discrimination at work. Fairness and equality is one of the cross-cutting considerations throughout the parental leave review, including between parents within a family. We will consider potential impacts from any reforms, including in relation to protections, as part of this review.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗