Overview

The UK government’s family friendly policies are a little clearer after it announced changes to flexible working rights and confirmed that the new right to additional paternity leave will come into force in 2011.

The Coalition’s programme for government committed to extending the right to request flexible working to all employees. It also stated that the Government would ‘encourage shared parenting from the earliest stages of pregnancy’.

Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone confirmed that the Government will be working with businesses to encourage a more family-friendly workplace and that this will be a long process involving ‘wide-ranging change’, with the announced changes just the ‘first stage’. This briefing from Shoosmiths outlines the changes.