In a study looking at the uptake of flexible working by new parents, Acas has found that organisations treat mothers and fathers differently.
The report “Flexible working for parents returning to work: Maintaining career development”, found that while 93 per cent of organisations reminded new mothers of their right to request flexible working when they told their employer they were going on maternity leave, only 55 per cent reminded new fathers when they asked to take paternity leave. Fathers are also less likely to be offered the opportunity to phase their return if they extend their leave.
Given those statistics, it is perhaps not surprising that fewer than 10 per cent of new fathers take more than two weeks of paternity leave, falling to two per cent among managers (compared to 94 per cent of female managers). A quarter of new fathers take no paternity leave whatsoever on the birth or adoption of a child.
Even with the introduction in 2015 of Shared Parental Leave (SPL) most new fathers only take paternity leave (usually two weeks) or annual leave. This is most likely to be due to low levels of paternity pay as only nine percent of fathers receive more than two weeks’ full pay. The report suggests that this inconsistency in maternity and paternity pay acts as an active financial disincentive for new fathers to take more than the two weeks’ statutory paternity leave.
The Acas report also suggests that this difference in treatment serves to reinforce cultural stereotypes, with women struggling to achieve equal pay and facing diminished opportunities for career development and promotion. Conversely, men who want to work more flexibly are often too nervous to request it because of the potential adverse impact on their careers.
The paper concludes that in looking at how organisations can support women to reach the top of organisations and reduce the pay gap (among other inequalities), part of the answer may lie in looking at how organisations treat men. In other words, offering a good package of leave and flexibility to new mothers is not necessarily enough in itself to support mothers to return to work and pick up where they left off.
Gerard Airey of Thompsons Solicitors commented “It is a shame to see that men aren’t taking up more time on paternity leave. Hopefully this study will highlight the issues and lead to employers highlighting the options available to males in respect of paternity leave and that this may assist in reducing the gender pay gap”.
You can read the report here.