英国爸爸2015年也有“产假”

英国爸爸2015年也有“产假”

Fathers will be able to share parental leave from April 2015

A father and son reading. Jo Swinson said she wanted it to be just as normal for fathers to take on caring responsibilities as mothers. Photograph: Blend Images/Alamy
Men are too often mocked in the work place for wanting to go part time or leaving early to pick up their children, the Liberal Democrat equalities minister has said, as she announced detailed plans for new mums and dads to share a year of parental leave after the birth of a child.

Jo Swinson, who is eight months' pregnant, said she wanted to change the culture of workplaces to prevent the "conflict" between people's jobs and family life, making it just as normal for fathers to take on caring responsibilities as mothers.

She criticised the "cultural double-standards" and said it was not right for men to be disparaged for wanting to work less to spend more time caring for their children.

The proposals for parents to share 12 months of leave after the birth of a child were outlined by the Lib Dems last year, with the aim of helping women return to the workplace and allowing men to have more involvement in caring for new babies.

Link to video: Nick Clegg welcomes parental leave changes
However, the details have only just been thrashed out by the coalition after months of wrangling about how to minimise hassle for businesses.

Under the new plans starting in April 2015, a couple will have to give their employers an indicative breakdown of how they plan to share their leave eight weeks before it starts. They will then be able to change their proposals twice during the year-long leave.

In a concession to businesses, bosses will have to agree any proposed pattern of time off and have the right to insist it is confined to a continuous block. Fathers will also get a new right to unpaid leave to attend up to two antenatal appointments.

Sources said Grant Shapps, the Conservative party chairman, led an effort to water down the package, backed by Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, Francis Maude, a cabinet office minister, Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, and Eric Pickles, the communities secretary.

The Conservative cabinet ministers wanted couples to give a binding commitment on how they would share the leave in advance, but the Lib Dems argued this would defeat the point of flexibility.

However, the Tories managed to retain the rules that parents will only be entitled to get the same job back if they take less than six months off, with anyone who takes longer potentially getting a similar but not identical role.

The Conservatives previously killed off Nick Clegg's demands for a month of dedicated "daddy leave" instead of the current two weeks.

The two parties have agreed to review the take-up of shared parental leave by fathers and look at extending paid paternity leave and pay "once the economy is in a stronger position".

Business groups, including the British Chambers of Commerce and Federation of Small Businesses, welcomed the plans, saying they had been simplified and made manageable for companies.

However, the Institute of Directors said shortening the notice period given to employers before parents return to work would create a "nightmare" for smaller firms. Other critics also pointed out surveys suggesting just one in 20 men will take up the offer.

Speaking to the Guardian, Swinson said more must be done to encourage men to take up their rights and questioned a culture in which men who take their family responsibilities seriously are "ribbed".

"Why does a man who works flexibly and part time get treated differently from the woman?" she said.

"It's a symptom of how we do have cultural double standards in many workplaces, where for women to take flexible working or leaving early on a particular day to pick up the kids from nursery is deemed to be acceptable but for some reason we treat a man who is making the same choice differently.

"We do really need to think about how we address some of those cultural barriers in workplaces. We need to get parents thinking about this and talking about it."

Swinson said a senior female boss had told her that male staff only felt able to "admit they had families too" once she had more women on her board.

"Basically you had many of these men in the workplace who would have dearly loved to be able to feel like they could say they needed to leave at a particular time or take an afternoon off to watch the school play but didn't feel they could," she said.

"Once you had a more diverse mix around the table, when people were acknowledging external responsibilities at the same time as doing an excellent job, men felt like they could also play their role as a father alongside their working role and the two didn't have to be in such conflict."

Swinson said there could also potentially be "a stigma or a resentment" towards mothers who work part-time in some workplaces but she hoped this would change with the coalition's plans to give all employees the right to request flexible working.

Under the reforms, this right will be extended from parents and carers to all workers, and companies will have a new duty to consider the request in a reasonable way, rather than going through a statutory process.

Labour said the announcement did not contain anything new for parents since the outline policy was revealed last year.

Gloria De Piero MP, the shadow women and equalities minister, said: "Nick Clegg claims to be on parents' side but he and David Cameron have done nothing to support families in the last three years.

"Instead this out-of-touch government has cut childcare support and places and there are now 578 fewer Sure Start centres than in 2010."

一位爸爸和儿子在读书。乔·斯温森说希望爸爸们能像妈妈们那样尽到正常照顾孩子的责任。照片：融合图像/阿拉米

据《卫报》日前报道，自由民主党性别平等大臣指出，做兼职或者提前下班接孩子的男性常常遭到同事嘲笑。同时他还宣布了一些具体计划，即孩子出生后新晋级的父母双方共同享有为期一年的假期。

有8个月身孕的乔·斯温森说她想改变工作文化，避免人们在工作和家庭生活中的“矛盾”，让爸爸们能像妈妈们那样尽到正常照顾孩子的责任。

她批评“文化双重标准”，并认为男性减少工作时间来照顾孩子不应遭到指责。

去年自由民主党起草了孩子出生后父母双方享有12个月产假的提议，目的是帮助女性重返工作并使男性更多地照顾新生儿。

然而，如何把企业的不同声音降到最低，执政联盟在争辩数月后刚刚结束对草案细节的反复研讨。

该计划将在2015年4月实施，一对夫妇必须在休假8周开始前提交两人如何分配产假的说明。一年的假期里，他们有两次改变提议的机会。

老板们也向企业做出了让步，他们不得不同意任何休假的类型，并有权坚持将其限定在某一持续的区域。爸爸们有权无薪休假，参加两次产检预约。

知情人士透露，保守党主席格兰特·沙普斯正在策划反对活动，反对由国防大臣菲利普·哈蒙德、内阁大臣弗朗西斯莫德、司法大臣克里斯·格雷林以及社区大臣埃克里·皮克尔斯组织的一揽子活动。

保守党内阁大臣提议夫妇提前将两人如何分配产假做出承诺，形成制约，但自由民主党认为这样做会造成政策不灵活。

然而，托利党人依然保留了一些规定，即离职不超过半年的父母双方才有权重任故职，离职超过半年者很可能得到一份与原来工作相似但不同的工作。

尼克·克莱格提出将全职“爸爸产假”由现在的两周增至一个月，之前，保守党对此提议坚决否认。

两党就回顾爸爸共享产假的所占率，延长带薪产假和在”一旦经济处于更有利的地位“发放薪水这些问题达成一致。

企业集团，包括英国商会和小企业联合会，都赞成这些计划，认为这些计划化繁就简，使公司更好管理。

然而，董事学会称缩短通知老板夫妇二人返回公司的时间，对小型公司来说是场”噩梦“。其他评论家也指出，调查表明二十人中只有一人接受了此项提议。

提起《卫报》，斯温森指出，在鼓励男人们利用自身应有的权利方面仍需更多的努力，并且他对那种承担家庭责任的男人会遭嘲笑的文化表示质疑。

“为什么一个在工作时间弹性大，兼职做工的男性和女性所受的待遇截然不同呢？”她问道。

“在很多工作中确实有文化的双重标准，其中女性工作弹性大或在某天可以早退去幼儿园接孩子，这些都合乎情理；然而同样的理由男性提出时，却会另眼相待，这就是文化双重标准的症状。”

“我们确实需对如何处理工作中出现的部分文化障碍加以反思。需要父母双方加以思考并讨论。”

斯温森说到，一位位高权重的女老板曾告诉她，只有当办公室里有很多女性员工请假早退时，男性才承认自己也有家庭孩子。

她还指出：“基本上来看，工作中很多男性都非常想说一声他们需要在某个时间离开或请一下午假去孩子学校看话剧，但是他们却有口难言。”

“一旦工作中越发需要多面人才，人们既要承认外部责任也需有骄人的业绩时，男性开始认识到除了工作他们也可以尽到父亲的职责，二者可以不相冲突。”

斯温森认为，兼职母亲可能会成为“耻辱或怨恨”，但她希望制定一些联盟计划，让所有员工都有要求灵活的工作时间的权利，改变当下的情况。

改革中，享有该权利的人将由父母、照顾者扩展到所有员工，各公司将会增设一项新职责去考量合理请求的方式而不必经过法定程序。

工党表示，自去年以来的大纲政策并没有涉及父母新规。

国会议员凯莱德皮耶，作为影子妇女和平等大臣指出：“尼克·克莱格声称自己是家长，但他和戴维·卡梅伦在过去三年对于家庭却付出甚少。”

“相反，这个不食人间烟火的政府却减少了对育儿的支持并裁减了相关机构。与2010年相比，如今缩减了578个确保启动中心。”

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