Male Partners Of Employees May Be Offered ‘Use It, Or Lose It’ Deal On Father’s Leave

A suggested new deal which may be offered to fathers by the government would, of course, apply to the male partners of your domestic/household staff if it is accepted.

The suggestion comes from the UK’s equality watchdog, The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and would see fathers offered a Father’s Leave deal on a “use it or ‘lose it” basis.

The EHRC says that this will help ensure that fathers take off a substantial amount of time with their newborn. This paternity leave would be ring-fenced and could not be switched to their partner. They hope this will also tackle the gender pay gap.

At the moment a man gets two weeks’ paternity leave paid at the statutory rate of about £141 a week, however, many cannot afford to take it.

New rules in 2015 allowed UK parents to share up to 50 weeks, known as “shared parental leave”. The father is paid £141 a week while the mother gets 90% of her salary for the first six weeks. Only 1% of men have used shared leave, according to studies, with money being the main issue.