News that didn’t appear to receive significant coverage within the media this week will give parents more rights to time-off.

Adopting the directive descriptively entitled “16945/09 + 5922/1/10 REV 1” without a vote, the European Council agreed on Monday (8 March) to extended workers’ rights to parental leave from three to four months for each parent. And in a clear effort to encourage both parents to avail of their rights, at least one of the four months cannot be transferred to the other parent (i.e. it is lost if not taken).

The directive makes clear that it will apply to all workers regardless of the type of contract they’re employed under – whether this is temporary or otherwise. Furthermore, workers returning from parental leave will also be able to request changes to their working hours for a limited period. Employers will have to consider and respond to such requests, taking into account both employers’ and workers’ needs.

The next steps for the directive will be for this to be implemented into UK law; as progress of this is made & a clearer timetable emerges, Employment Law Clinic will update these news pages & the advice available on the flexible working section of the site.

A survey published by the Department of Business Innovation & Skills exposes the fact a significant number of employers are not confident with their employment law obligations.

From a study covering more than 300 small business owners [1], less than a third (32 per cent) report feeling confident in their understanding of employment law;  34 per cent of respondents feel that employment law obligations are not relevant to their business, while a further 20 per cent worry about getting their obligations right.

Keeping up to date

Not quite half (42 per cent) of the sample consider it ‘important’ to stay up to date.  However, a quarter (25 per cent) admit that they do not keep up to speed with legislation changes.

A further 28 per cent report that they are ‘vaguely aware’ of their legal obligations.  This group of employers feel that they are unable to find the time to keep abreast of their legal requirements.

Employment Relations Minister Lord Young said:

“We know that running a small business is both challenging and rewarding – and that this combination often fuels a successful enterprise. The essential job of managing employment law need not be one of these challenges.

“This study helps us identify the knowledge gap, and the reasons behind this, to enable us to continue to improve the advice and support we offer. I expect all small businesses to access this help for free on the Business Link website to make sure they know their responsibilities

Support & Services available to small businesses

For those businesses that want to keep up with all the latest employment news, our employment law Calendar will continue to publish details of important events in employment law, while our news section will update readers on recent developments.

For those 58 per cent of business owners that don’t consider it important to keep up to date, we would encourage them to reconsider.

And for both the 68 per cent that don’t feel confident, and the 32 per cent that do, Employment Law Clinic will continue to build on & improve the information & advice available on the site, continue to provide links to reliable free resources, as well as offering a range of services for 100 per cent of small businesses in the UK.

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[1] The study was based on business owners responsible for a company with between one & 49 employees