JUNE 16, 2024
By Lucy Ashton
Labour’s New Deal for Working People will deliver change for working parents, Scottish Labour has said on Fathers’ Day.
On a visit to Scotland, the party’s Deputy Leader Angela Rayner has set out how her transformative New Deal for Working People will help workers balance family and work.
As it stands, workers have to be continuously employed for 26 weeks before they are entitled to parental leave.
Labour’s Angela Rayner and Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader.
Labour has pledged to make parental leave a day one right for workers, and to conduct a full review of the parental leave system to ensure it best supports working families.
More widely, Labour is committed to make flexible working the default from day one for all workers, including opportunities for flexi-time contracts and hours that better accommodate school terms.
A recent survey has found that 1 in 5 dads reported that no parental leave options were available to them following the birth or adoption of their child.
Labour Party Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said: “The parental leave system has broken and is no longer fit for purpose.
“Under the Tories and the SNP, too many dads are put in the impossible position of having to choose between spending precious time with their new families and having to return to work to keep the lights on and a roof over their heads.
“This is bad for children, bad for parents and bad for our economy, with too many parents unable to get on, succeed and thrive at work.
“Labour would review the parental leave system so that it best supports working families within the first year of a Labour government. And as part of our mission to reduce the impact of parental income on a child’s opportunities, we will ensure that parental leave is a day one right.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said “For 14 years the Tories have failed workers in Scotland, letting pay stall and attacking their hard-won rights.
“It’s time for change – and Labour’s New Deal for Working People will deliver the greatest transfer of power to working people in a generation.
“Labour will make parental leave a day one right, so new dads aren’t forced to choose between spending time with their child and putting food on the table.
“This Fathers’ Day, the best gift on offer is a Labour government that will help parents to balance family and work.
“On the 4th of July Scotland can make sure we kick out this rotten Tory government, strengthen workers’ rights and deliver the change that Scotland needs.”
A condition of accessing parental leave is to have been continuously employed by your employer for at least 26 weeks up to any day in the ‘qualifying week’: https://www.gov.uk/paternity-pay-leave/eligibility
“new survey data reveals that for 1 in 5 (20%) dads, no parental leave options were available to them following the birth or adoption of their child”: https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/boosting-paternity-leave-has-economic-benefits/
Top of page picture: Dumbarton from the air by Pedro