Recommendation 9

HM Government Rejected

The Department for Business and Trade leads on employment rights, including statutory leave and pay entitlements for parents. An individual’s employment rights are determined by their employment status, not the type of employment contract they have or the type of work they do. Employment status is based on the nature of the relationship between an individual and the person for whom services are provided. Comprehensive guidance was published in July 20222, which sets out the different employment rights which apply to different employment statuses (worker, employee and self-employed). The Government recognises the importance of supporting both mothers and fathers in balancing their professional and caregiving responsibilities. Government support focuses on supporting employed parents through statutory parental leave and pay, as employees do not generally have the same level of flexibility and autonomy over the time they take off work as self-employed parents do. Employees typically have a contract of employment and will be required to work regular hours, be paid for the time they work and have an employer who has control over when they work, where they work and how their work is done. Due to this, employees have the greatest level of employment protections to balance out the lack of flexibility that this employment type provides in other ways. Maternity Allowance is available to self-employed women who meet eligibility requirements. It supports self-employed women to stop working in the later stages of pregnancy, and in the months after childbirth, to recover from the physical effects of childbirth in the interests of their own and their baby’s health and wellbeing. These health and safety considerations do not apply to fathers and partners in the same way; therefore, there is no equivalent entitlement to Maternity Allowance offered to self-employed fathers and partners. If they meet the qualifying criteria, self-employed women who qualify for Maternity Allowance can choose to curtail their entitlement to create a pot of Shared Parental Leave to transfer a leave and pay entitlement to their partner, if the partner is employed and also meets qualifying criteria. There are currently no plans to introduce any entitlements to parental leave or pay for self-employed fathers or partners. The Government also has provisions in place such as Tax Credits, Child Benefit and Universal Credit which provide support with the cost of raising children; self-employed parents are able to claim these benefits if they meet the eligibility criteria.