The Government has confirmed that it will postpone the implementation of the revised Parental Leave Directive, which increases leave from 13 to 18 weeks, for one year because of the on-going development of its Modern Workplaces policy.
A revised Parental Leave Directive (2010/18/EU) was approved in 2010, with the principal change being that parents of a child under the age of five will each have the right to take up to 18 weeks’ unpaid parental leave, an extension to the current 13 weeks. However, while the Directive is due for implementation on 8 March 2012, member states are allowed a one-year extension to take account of ‘particular difficulties’. The BIS have confirmed that it will use the extension, and delay implementation until March 2013, because of the thorough review of parental leave undertaken as part of the Consultation on ‘Modern Workplaces: flexible parental leave, flexible working, annual leave and equal pay’, which took place last year.
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