Take up Top up

Take up Top up:   Working Families New Campaign for Fathers

Read about Centrica plc's award-winning policies for fathers

Centrica plc has been awarded the Best for Fathers special award in the 2010 Top Employers for Working Families.

21st October 2010 - Good news on paid paternity leave
21.10.10.  An entitlement to paid paternity leave of at least two weeks has been approved by a majority of Members of the European Parliament.
For details, see:  http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-wlabel-dti.nsf/wfArticle?ReadForm&unid=1DADEE281F89AAF8802577C3003ABA04

The Campaign

Working Families has launched a “take up, top up” campaign to increase awareness of fathers’ rights, and to encourage more employers to top up statutory paternity pay to full pay for new fathers.

We know from our helpline callers that many fathers want to take paternity leave, but can’t because they are not eligible or because they can’t afford to.

Our survey with netmums and Dad.info found:
4 out of 10 fathers don’t take paternity leave
72 per cent of those who did not take leave gave the reason that they could not afford to take it
14 per cent of those who did not take leave gave the reason that they didn’t have enough length of service with their employer
13 per cent could not take paternity leave because they were self employed and not entitled to paid leave.


Click here for the press release with more details about the survey.

Our campaign aims to:
raise awareness among fathers about their rights to paternity leave.
increase the number of fathers eligible to take paternity leave and pay. All new fathers should be able to have time off with their new baby. We want the current long notice periods and service requirements reduced. We want fathers who don’t currently qualify for statutory paternity pay – including self-employed fathers - to have a paternity allowance instead.
encourage employers to pay enhanced paternity pay - topping up the current £123.06 per week to the father’s usual weekly pay.
 

Read why these employers offer full paternity benefits:

John Wrighthouse, HR director at Nationwide:
“Our Paternity policy is enhanced above statute. For example, we don’t expect our employees to have served 26 weeks at Nationwide before being entitled to Paternity pay and we provide full pay during the two weeks of leave, as well as paid leave to support partners at antenatal appointments. Our policy also applies to the adoption and, over and above the statutory requirement, the long term fostering of a child.

“At Nationwide we believe it is important for our employees to have job satisfaction and the motivation to do their job well. By promoting working arrangements that fit in with family commitments we can maintain staff and retain the skills and knowledge they possess. Furthermore, we have found that promoting Nationwide as a family friendly employer is an advantageous recruitment and retention tool.”

Cathy Busani, MD at Happy:
At Happy we strongly believe in family values and the importance of fathers having time to spend with their partner and new baby after the birth. For these reasons we have given our new fathers 2 weeks full paid paternity leave long before it became statutory to give 2 weeks off. As a business it makes complete commercial sense – happy families equal happy, engaged, and motivated employees in the long term, why wouldn’t any employer offer it!

Caroline Waters, Director, People and Policy at BT Group:
A life changing experience for all families is the arrival of a new baby . Whether natural or adopted, a baby brings significant joy and huge change .The immediate impact of this 'new arrival' often falls on 'Mum' .... But where is 'dad' when mum needs that early help? .... usually at work and the reason is often poor paternity benefits . But NOT at BT!

BT offers enhanced paternity leave of two weeks paid leave and a further two weeks unpaid leave. This helps Dad bond with his new arrival as well as relieving some of the pressures on 'Mum'. We also encourage Dads to take advantage of our flexible working options so new, and not so new, fathers can find a way of working that gives them a balance between work and home life.

BT's outstanding ' Flexible Working' options help us attract and retain talented people and support a motivated, engaged and high performance culture. Helping our people be the parents they want to be and to go that extra mile in delivering world-class service, innovation and value to our customers creates a better business with a better future for everyone.
 

If you would like to support the campaign, please email elizabeth.gardiner@workingfamilies.org.uk

UPDATE
The Government’s Green Paper for Families launched January 2010 promises consultation on the notice period for paternity leave, exploration of the barriers faced by fathers not eligible for paternity pay and a look at the merits of a paternity allowance. http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/supportforall/

If you want to get involved with the campaign, or simply want to stay in touch please fill in the form below

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