Shared Parental Leave to be Extended to Working Grandparents
Last month George Osborne announced plans to extend the still relatively new right to Shared Parental Leave to take into account the extended family. It is intended that this right will be extended beyond just mothers and fathers, to include working grandparents.
Shared Parental Leave is still currently "bedding in" and, anecdotally at least, there does not seem to be much take up of it at the moment. Women are still tending to take their full maternity leave entitlement, without sharing some of it with the father, as is provided for under the Shared Parental Leave arrangements. So it is unclear how much take-up there will be from working grandparents. However, it is possible that take-up may be higher for grandparents, as many of them may be in lower paid jobs, as they head towards the end of their working life, and may be in a better position to take time off unpaid or at the statutory level. Many fathers are still the main wage earners, or are on a par with the mother, so it is not always so attractive for them to take this time off.
The Government will consult over this proposal next year, with a view to introducing it in 2018. So watch this space!
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