Supporting Families

Monday 22nd July 2019 Written Statements

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Penny Mordaunt)]

In the good work plan, the Government announced the largest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation and set out a series of ambitious reforms to ensure the UK leads the world in meeting the challenges of the changing world of work. Building on these reforms, today the Government have launched a consultation on measures to support parents to enter, remain in and return to the workforce. Employees who feel that they are more in control of the balance between home and work commitments are more likely to be engaged at work. Their employers will benefit from greater employee loyalty, commitment and motivation and are likely to be able to draw on a wider pool of talent when recruiting.

The consultation seeks views on:

high-level options for reforming parental leave and pay, and the costs, benefits and trade-offs of potential reforms;

a proposal for a new entitlement to neonatal leave and pay for parents of babies who require neonatal care following birth;

whether employers should have a duty to consider whether a job can be done flexibly and make that clear when advertising a role;

options for requiring large employers (those with 250 or more employees) to publish their family-related leave and pay policies.

The Government’s modern industrial strategy is creating a fairer and more equal workplace, to boost productivity and earning power for all. The consultation supports this by helping people manage their wider commitments in life benefiting both families and employers.

The consultation on parental leave and pay will run for 16 weeks and will end on 8 November.

The remaining consultations will run for 12 weeks until 11 October 2019. The consultation can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/good-work-plan-proposals-to-support-families.

I am placing a copy of the consultation in the Library of the House.

[HCWS1782]