Fathers will be able to share parental leave to care for babies and will have greater access to their children after couples divorce, under government plans.
David Cameron and Nick Clegg promised “unprecedented support for parents” with a new Children and Families Bill, which also contained measures to make it easier to adopt, and more support for children with special needs.
Parents’ groups “cautiously welcomed” the proposals but business leaders warned that making parental leave more flexible would impose complex “burdens” on employers.
Officials said current rules on maternity and paternity leave were “outdated” because they presumed that women will do the “vast majority” of caring for infants.
A spokesman for the Department for Business said: “Parents should be able to choose their childcare arrangements for themselves.”
There were few details about how the new flexible parental leave arrangements could work. Possible options include allowing mothers to return to work and transfer up to nine months of a year’s parental leave to fathers.
However, business groups criticised the move. John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, warned that companies would face “endless” legal challenges and grievances resulting from “gender-neutral” parental leave.
“Ministers have chosen to ignore the fact that a complex new system of shared parental leave brings fiendish complexity and huge uncertainty for employers,” he said. “These proposals will hit business at precisely the time ministers are asking companies to create jobs and spur growth.
“While most businesspeople identify with the idea of gender-neutral parental leave, they’ve warned time and again that the Government’s proposals are unwieldy, difficult to understand and fraught with potential complications.”
Simon Walker, Director General of the Institute of Directors, also warned that allowing parental leave to be shared risked adding to the burden on companies.
“The Government should be careful not to use this as an opportunity to increase levels of leave,” he said. “Sharing the allowance is fine, but putting heavier burdens on business in these tough times would not be a sensible move.”
根据英国政府的计划，英国的父亲们将能共享产假，照看宝宝，离婚后也将获得更多陪伴孩子的机会。
英国首相大卫•卡梅伦和副首相尼克•克莱格承诺将颁布一项儿童与家庭新法案，“为父母们提供前所未有的支持”。法案中还包含让收养孩子变得更容易、以及对有特殊需要的孩子提供更多支持的举措。
父母群体对这一提案“有所保留地表示欢迎”，但企业主们警告说让产假变得更灵活将给雇主们带来复杂的问题，造成负担。
政府官员称，当前的产假规定已经“过时了”，因为旧法规想当然地认为女性将承担照顾婴儿的“绝大部分工作”。
英国商业部的一位发言人说：“父母应该能自主安排谁来照顾小孩。”
关于灵活的新产假相关安排如何运作，并未透露多少细节。也许会允许母亲回到工作岗位，并且最多能将9个月的假期转让给父亲。
但是，商业群体批评了这一举动。英国商会的总会长约翰•朗沃斯警告说，公司将会因“不分性别的”产假而面临“无休止的”法律挑战和申诉。
他说：“复杂的产假共享新体系将给雇主们带来极其糟糕的复杂状况和非常大的不确定性，而部长们选择忽视这一事实。就在部长们让企业创造就业机会、刺激经济增长的同时，这些提案却会对企业造成打击。”
“尽管大多数商界人士认同产假不分性别的想法，但他们已经屡次得到告诫，知道政府的提案施行起来很麻烦，难以理解，而且暗藏许多纠葛。”
英国董事学会的总会长西蒙•沃克也警告说，让父母亲共享产假将可能增加企业的负担。
他说：“政府应该注意别让这个新产假方案成为人们增加休假的机会。共享产假很好，但是在这样的艰难时期让企业背上更沉重的负担不是一个明智之举。”
fiendish: 极坏的
unwieldy: 不灵便的；使用不便的