Paternity Leave
Statutory paternity leave and pay is available to employees whether they are the biological father, or are mother's partner or husband but are not the biological father.
Leave can be taken in a single block of either one week or two weeks. It can be taken after the birth of a child of the placement of a child for adoption. The leave must be taken within 56 days of the expected week of childbirth or the actual birth (if this is earlier).
The Government plans to increase the length of paternity leave, a change which will be introduced at the same time as the provisions entitling women to a full year's statutory maternity pay. The first six months of maternity leave will be preserved for women and will not be allowed to be shared. However, if the mother returns to work, fathers will be given the right to an additional paternity leave period of up to 26 weeks.
Adoption Leave
For those expecting to have a child placed with them on or after 1 April 2007, all adopters with 6 months' service ending with the week in which they are notified of being matched with a child for adoption are entitled to 26 weeks' Ordinary Adoption Leave (OAL). Those who are entitled to OAL are also entitled to Additional Adoption Leave (AAL) up to 12 months inclusive of OAL.
All employees who are entitled to adoption leave will be entitled to the use of 10 "Keeping in Touch" (KIT) days allowing employees to do work under their contract of service without losing a week's statutory adoption pay and without bringing their adoption leave to an end.
For those expecting a child to be placed with them on or after 1 April 2007 the statutory adoption pay period will be extended from 26 to 39 weeks.
Parental Leave
An employee who satisfies certain conditions is entitled to take parental leave "for the purpose of caring for the child".
Whether male or female, if an employee has worked for an employer continuously for a year and has responsibility for a child, he or she is entitled to 13 weeks' unpaid parental leave for each child.
This leave must be taken by the time the child reaches the age of 5 or the age of 18 if the child is disabled. If the child is adopted, then parental leave must be taken by the 5th anniversary of the adoption or by the time the child reaches the age of 18, whichever is the earlier.
Time off for Dependants
An employee is entitled to take a reasonable amount of unpaid time off during working hours in order to take action which is necessary:
- to provide assistance on an occasion when a dependant falls ill, gives birth or is injured or assaulted;
- to make arrangements for the provision of care for a dependant who is ill or injured;
- in consequence of the death of a dependant;
- because of the unexpected disruption or termination of arrangements for the care of a dependant; or
- to deal with an incident, which involves a child of the employee and which occurs unexpectedly in a period during which an educational establishment, which the child attends, is responsible for him or her.
"Dependant" is defined as a partner, parent, child, someone who lives as part of the family, or someone who relies on the employee for assistance and care.
The employee must notify the employer as soon as possible with reasons for the absence and an estimate of how long they will be away from work (which should be no longer than a day or so at most).
Flexible Working
Parents of children under the age of six and parents of disabled children under the age of eighteen are entitled to request flexible working arrangements. From 6 April 2007 this right is extended to the carers of adults.
Employers have a duty to seriously consider any such request. Any rejection of a request can only be justified on one or more of eight grounds which include: the burden of additional costs; detrimental impact on performance; and planned structural changes.
Restraint of Trade, Confidentiality and Ex-Employees
Employers may wish to control competing activities by current, or more usually, former employees. Current employees have certain implied duties in this respect but to impose more extensive duties upon them or to exert any control over the activities of former employees, express agreement from the employee is required.
Restrictions are always worth considering for key personnel and will usually involve restrictions after termination of the employment on:
- what the employee is entitled to do.
- where they are entitled to work.
- soliciting customers/employees.
The restrictions will generally be limited in time.
As a matter of public policy, the law says that restrictions will only be upheld by the courts to the extent that they are reasonably required for the protection of the employer's legitimate interests. This can be a fine line to draw. As a general rule, the shorter and more limited the restriction is, the better chance it has of standing up in court but there are no hard and fast rules - a year may be acceptable in one scenario but 6 months too long in another. This is an area where it is vital to take advice.
Neither current nor future employees may misuse confidential information belonging to their employers, whether or not their contracts expressly prohibit them from doing so. However employees are entitled to use the general skills and experience they acquire. Cases often turn on drawing the line between the two, which can be extremely difficult.
Health & Safety
An employer is under a common law duty to have regard for the safety of its employees. It is also liable at common law for accidents caused by acts of its employees where the employees were acting in the course of their employment. In addition, statutory obligations have been imposed upon employers in certain circumstances by legislation such as the Occupiers Liability Acts, the Factories Act and the Health & Safety at Work Act. It should also be borne in mind that the Employment Rights Act provides protection from detriment and dismissal in certain situations for health and safety representatives and other employees who have health and safety concerns.
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