Less than 10% of new parents are taking advantage of the opportunity to share what used to be mum’s Maternity Leave with the new Shared Parental Leave rights since its introduction in April 2015.
It’s possibly a pretty complex process for new parents to work out how they can take advantage of, and we suspect that culturally many parents and their employers have not yet embraced the idea of dad taking off more than a couple of weeks’ Paternity Leave. There may of course be financial and career progression considerations to take into account with both parents taking extended time out from work.
The CIPD highlight this and the lack of affordable childcare options for 0-2 year olds as being major problems that need addressing in the workplace.
Whilst we agree, we also think that much of what can be done is about the business culture not just the legislation. At vivoHR we encourage our clients to think creatively about the best ways to employ all people that ensures business needs are met and that staff are engaged, loyal and motivated to do the very best job.
Considering how you can create the highest performing team means looking at the needs and wants of working parents, carers, apprentices and trainees, staff who experience a period of ill health, those heading towards retirement, staff hungry for career progression, those interested in skills development and the “steady eddy” who just wants to do a good job each day.