Introducing Flexible Parental LeaveIntroducing Flexible Parental Leave
Theresa May launched a new and more flexible system of parental leave in her Spring Forum speech.
Our plans would provide more support for working mothers, and allow parents to take leave simultaneously.
- Parents will have between them up to 52 weeks of paid Flexible Parental Leave
- The first fourteen weeks would automatically apply to the mother
- It would be up to the parents how to use the remaining 38 weeks. The mother could take off the whole 52 weeks; the father could take over the FPL at any time during the final 38 weeks; or the mother and father could simultaneously take off up to 26 weeks each, as long as fathers only take one continuous period of leave.
- Parents who simultaneously take FPL would be eligible for double the rate of statutory maternity pay during the period of concurrent leave.
- Fathers who remain in work would still be entitled to their existing right of two weeks of paid paternity leave
Our proposals would give parents more flexibility and choice, and would have a positive impact on pay equality, by giving women more help to return to the workplace after childbirth. Join our Party
