New Paternity Laws Ignored by Company Formation Owners

When the news was announced that Father’s were now entitled to three months paid paternity and a further three months unpaid leave , many people felt the move signified a more progressive future for UK business.

However, four months since the new legislation was brought it, a recent report conducted by the Forum of Small Business and Enterprise has revealed that over fifty per cent of all companies have ignore the new legislation and are still only offering two weeks paid paternity leave Despite recent changes in paternity laws, many businesses are still offering basic leave to fathers.

Tim Sunderland, advisor to the FSBE, comments: “Introducing the new paternity leave legislation was only the first step in a very long journey to establishing equality in the workplace when it comes to parental leave. Yes, it was an extremely positive first step but the new government needs to support the legislation and encourage new father’s to take advantage of their rights to take additional leave. It will also be extremely interesting to see if the Prime Minister takes paternity leave when his wife gives birth later this year.”

Clare Woods, owner and managing partner of architect firm ‘Latitude’ comments; “While we have informed our employees about the changes to the legislation we have found that most of the new fathers we employee are reluctant to take their paternity leave. If this new legislation is ever going to be broader accepted than the government needs to do more to support small companies dealing with the absence of staff.”