New 'unpaid leave' law planned

Plans to give parents 13 weeks of unpaid leave during the first five years of a child's life have been announced by the government.

With the now regular complaints of government legislation piling on the administrative pains for companies, the consultation paper on future leave entitlement for workers is hoping to stem negative results by asking business and trade unions what they think first.

A spokesman for the DTI said: "It's about getting it right and minimising the burdens on business."

However, the British Chambers of Commerce said that many of its members were worried about their workers taking more than two weeks leave at a time, and having to hire temporary staff at an increased cost to cover.

The BCC favours a plan where the government would pay the same compensation to companies as is currently paid in the case of maternity leave, also limiting any leave to a maximum of one month at any one time.

The Equal Opportunities Commission feels that the proposed measures do not go far enough, however. The body said in June that the leave should be paid, as otherwise only better-off families will benefit.