Changes To The Law On Parental Leave

Currently, unpaid parental leave is available to birth and adoptive parents and also to anyone who has, or expects to have, parental responsibility for a child and has been continuously employed for not less than one year at the time the leave is to be taken. The right applies in respect of each child: an employee with one qualifying child may normally take 18 weeks' leave, an employee with two children would be entitled to 36 weeks' leave in total. From April 2015 new mothers and their partners, who are eligible, will be able to share up to 52 weeks of leave in total, between them, either in alternating blocks or taken together (subject to final Parliamentary approval). The right will apply to agency workers as well as employees. Employees expecting babies on or after…

Time Off To Accompany Partner To Antenatal Appointments

A right for eligible employees and agency workers to accompany their wives, partners or expectant mothers to antenatal appointments is to be introduced from 1 October 2014. Qualifying individuals will be allowed to take unpaid leave to accompany a pregnant woman to two antenatal appointments, for up to a maximum of six and a half hours for each appointment. Employers will not be entitled to ask to see the actual appointment card or letter, but can ask the employee for a signed declaration stating the details of the appointment, how the employee is eligible to attend and confirming the time off is for the purpose of attending the ante-natal appointment which has been made following medical advice. The following employees and agency workers are eligible to attend: the baby's father; the expectant mother's spouse…

Right To Accompany A Pregnant Woman To Antenatal Appointments

From 1st October an employee or an agency worker (who has worked on an assignment for 12 continuous calendar weeks) who has a qualifying relationship with a pregnant woman or her expected child will be entitled to be permitted by his or her employer to take time off (up to 6 ½ hours in one day) on up to 2 occasions for a single pregnancy during the employee's working hours in order that he or she may accompany the woman when she attends by appointment at any place for the purpose of receiving ante-natal care. The employer can request a signed declaration from the employee confirming the date & time of the appointment that the time off is to attend an antenatal appointment which has been arranged on the advice of a registered medical practitioner…

Is Obesity The New Disability

Does obesity qualify as a disability? If yes, then the duty to make reasonable adjustments might include employers having to provide bigger chairs and desks, car parking spaces near the front door, and duties involving less mobility. The Advocate General has, today, issued an opinion on this point in Kaltoft v The Municipality of Billund. The first part of the opinion held that obesity was not a protected characteristic per se under the Equal Treatment Framework Directive. Pretty obvious stuff. The main part of the opinion considered whether obesity, without more, fell within the definition of a disability. The Advocate General pointed out the EU definition of disability covers the situation when a physical or mental condition makes "carrying out of that job or participation in professional life objectively more difficult and demanding. Typical examples…