• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • FAQ
  • Meet the Team
  • About The London Economic
  • Advertise
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
NEWSLETTER
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Food
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Lifestyle Family

Shared Parental Leave – what does it actually mean for you?

By Zoe Sinclair The new offer of shared parental leave looks simple enough. New mums take the first two weeks off after the birth, but the remaining 50 weeks can be shared between mum and dad. Finally the UK has caught up with Scandinavia, where shared leave has been working well for decades. But what […]

Jasmine Stephens by Jasmine Stephens
May 6, 2015
in Family

By Zoe Sinclair

The new offer of shared parental leave looks simple enough. New mums take the first two weeks off after the birth, but the remaining 50 weeks can be shared between mum and dad. Finally the UK has caught up with Scandinavia, where shared leave has been working well for decades.

But what does it really mean for you, your partner and your jobs?

Despite all the supportive noises from employers, a major worry is what their real thinking will be. In the same way that many people – especially men – are reluctant to ask for flexible working hours, shared parental leave might look like a lack of attention and commitment, drop you down the list of candidates for the next promotion.

Don’t worry too much. My experience of helping organisations shows that more firms are coming round to the importance of being ‘family-friendly’, that if you want genuine engagement from people you need to understand and take into account the demands from home.

Most employers will be encouraging when it comes to shared parental leave, it helps them show they’re forward-thinking, not stuck in the past. Just keep an eye on what’s being said by HR and managers about other people taking shared leave, informally as well as formally, and the tone as much as the detail. Some organisations offer specific support, and it’s worth finding out what’s on offer, or making suggestions. With Goldman Sachs we run ‘Keeping in Touch’ days for women on maternity leave, which provides an easy-going way for new mums to still feel part of what’s happening and make it easier to have a smooth return. They also offer workshops for working parents on the practicalities, like managing time between work and home demands. For Allen & Overy and Deutsche Bank there are maternity and paternity workshops to help with the transitions back into work again.

Men: don’t be bothered by any raised eyebrows – and don’t ever think you’re different from the mum, any less cut out for ‘nurturing’. It’s a myth than men are any less capable. It’s just an issue of stereotypes which has undermined men’s feeling of confidence over time – and if anything, men can be better at the kind of task-focused roles involved in babycare. It’ll take time for shared leave to become the norm, but with the growth in numbers of women becoming the main earner (it’s said to be around 40% in the US) the trend is only going to be upwards. And for women: this is a great opportunity. You don’t have to take huge chunks of time off anymore, which makes such a difference in terms of consistency and relationship with the workplace. You’re not taking a ‘break’, detaching yourself, anymore, just periods of leave. It’s already been seen to work in Scandinavia, where there is reportedly a much higher degree of gender equality in the workplace.

RelatedPosts

Supporting your children during the lockdown – Key Stage 5

Supporting your children during the lockdown – Key Stage 4

Supporting your children during the lockdown – Key Stage 3

Supporting your children during the lockdown – Key Stage 2

Ultimately though, it’ll come down to finances, and employers know this. Technically for the first 39 weeks you’re only entitled to statutory pay – but your organisation might decide to offer enhanced pay as a perk. In a survey of FTSE 100 employees by Linklaters survey, 63% said they’d be interested in taking the shared option (and there was no real difference in levels of interest between men and women), but it all depended on what their organisation was going to offer in terms of something more than just statutory pay. With this in mind, the Government are probably right in saying take-up will start at around 2-6%, just because of the financial issue.

You can make the most of taking shared parental leave by not being half-hearted about it. Don’t take the leave and find yourself monitoring emails and working in the evenings. You’ve got to be in the zone for whatever you’re doing at that time, and if you’re at home, be your whole self. And don’t be guilty, it’s a waste of time and energy. We talk to mums all the time about how they feel terrible about leaving their baby in nursery after a year of being at home. There’s no need to be guilty – but if the feeling is that strong, then going back to work – at least full-time – is probably the wrong move.

Zoe Sinclair is Managing Director of Employees Matter, www.employeesmatter.co.uk

Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism Support fearless, free, investigative journalism

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending fromTLE

  • All
  • trending

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

Stress, fear and homelessness: The threat looming over families confronted with eviction

File photo dated 07/11/03 of a prison cell.

The Other Prison Pandemic

Latest from TLE

Credit;PA

61 year old woman fined £10,000 for organising protest against 1% pay rise for nurses

Credit;PA

The 12 shocking revelations from Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview

Credit;PA

Meghan asked by royal ‘how dark will baby’s skin be?’ in shocking racism claims

Image by AdobeStock

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for London, Monday 8 March 2021

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: jack@thelondoneconomic.com

Commercial enquiries, please contact: advertise@thelondoneconomic.com

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Film
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech & Auto
  • About The London Economic
  • Meet the Team
  • Privacy policy

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.