Work-Life Balance Flashcards
Family Friendly Policies
FF policies are those designed to promote more flexible working arrangements and allow individuals to balance their work with other responsibilities; namely, their childcare responsibilities.
Fatherhood Institute
NGO report published ranked the UK 12/22 in an index related to gender equality. This accounted for a range of statistics including gender pay gap; men’s % share of part-time workforce; and ratio of men to women spent caring for children etc.
Defrenne v Sabena (No 2)
ECJ said that Article 141 EC pursues a double aim - both economic and social aim. Economic aim is to avoid a situation in which measures implemented regarding equal pay lead to a disadvantage in intra-community competition due to other MS failing to introduce measures to combat pay inequality.
Second aim is a social aim - ensure social progress and improve living conditions of all EU citizens. So more recently the EU has begun to realise social objectives e.g. gender equality as being part of the Treaties.
Fairness at Work White Paper
New Labour govt. produced a white paper in 1998 which advocated increased use of family friendly policies in order to redress the imbalance between men and women in terms of the labour market and childcare responsibilities.
Chapter 5 argued competitiveness in the economy depends on the talents of promoting as the use of as many talents as possible - so promoting equality between sexes in terms of labour market/domestic sphere has an economic rationale = increased competitiveness in labour market.
Alternative FF Policies
1) Flexible working arrangements - enabling workers to work from home; flexible shift patterns; part-time work all promote the balance between childcare and occupational responsibilities which may allow more women to engage in the labour market.
2) Shared parental leave - mandatory shared parental leave ensures that both men and women must assume a fair division of childcare responsibilities and share the burden of taking time out of the labour market, particularly during the child’s early formative years.
Parental Leave Directive
Directive 2010/18 states that, inter alia, FF policies should contribute to:
- the achievement of gender equality;
- promotion of women’s participation in the labour force;
- sharing of parental responsibilities between women and men.
Clause 2 states that both male and female workers should be entitled to an individual right to parental leave until the child is 8 years old.
Part-time Workers Directive
Directive 97/81 provides that Ms should make opportunities for part-time work. Employers should give consideration to requests by workers to transfer to part-time work that comes available etc. - social goal of increased flexible part-time work is to allow employees scope to balance work with childcare responsibilities.
Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations 1999
Mothers are entitled to 26 weeks of ordinary maternity leave, and an additional 26 weeks of additional maternity leave = 1 year of statutory maternity leave in total is available.
2 weeks compulsory maternity leave under the Regulations.
Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1993
Sets out the legal entitlements regarding maternity PAY.
QUALIFYING CONDITIONS:
- qualifying period of 26 weeks of work;
- individual must be earning £112/week to qualify;
ENTITLEMENTS:
- individual is entitled to 6 weeks at 90% of full pay
- after that, the individual is entitled to 33 weeks’ pay at whichever is lowest out of:
a) 90% of fully pay; or
b) £139.58/week.
Self-employed Mothers
Self-employed mothers are entitled to a maternity allowance from the state.
QUALIFYING CONDITIONS:
- individual needs to have been self-employed for 26/66 weeks of test period (66 weeks prior to the week the baby is due).
- individual must have averaged £30/week over any 13 weeks of the test period to qualify.
ENTITLEMENTS:
- 33 weeks’ pay at whichever is lowest of 90% of full pay OR £139.58/week.
Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations 2002
Sets out paternity leave entitlements. Fathers are only entitled to 2 weeks of paid ordinary paternity leave. Pay = whichever is lowest of either 90% of full pay OR £139.58/week.
Shared Parental Regulations 2014
These have made important changes to paternity leave entitlements. Under the Regulations, mothers continue to be entitled to 52 weeks SML and are entitled to 39 weeks of Shared Parental Pay.
If she chooses to do so, the mother can end her maternity leave early and with her partner/child’s father, opt for Shared Parental Leave instead of ML. Parents need to decide how they want to divide their Shared Parental Leave and Pay entitlements.
Statutory Shared Parental Pay in the SPL Regulations 2014 is paid at whichever is lowest out of £139.58/week or 90% of full pay.
Additional Paternity Leave has been removed and replaced with SPL - men only get 2 weeks of ordinary paid paternity leave pay + possible entitlements under SPL if they decide to opt for them.
Summary = mothers are still entitled to all 52 weeks of SML and 90% pay for 6 weeks. Then, during the additional 33 weeks they can opt for shared parental leave and pay - can divide these entitlements up with child’s father. However, the mother can continue with her entitlements to the additional 33 weeks of maternity leave pay if she wishes - not mandatory to share parental leave and pay.
Swedish Law
Sweden is much more generous than the UK in terms of parental leave - much more effective FF policies promoting breakdown of prescribed gender norms:
- parents entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave;
- for 390 days, parents are entitled to nearly 80% of pay (up to max of £79/day);
- 90 days of parental leave are allocated specifically to each parent and are not transferrable = almost 1/3 of parental leave is non-transferrable
- parents who share the transferrable section of parental leave get an equality bonus which is tax-free;
- collective bargaining agreements can set higher standards above this very comprehensive floor of rights.
Sandra Fredman
‘A difference with distinction: pregnancy and parenthood reassessed’.
Fredman is critical of the equality-difference model in relation to pregnancy and maternity entitlements that EU law has taken. Criticisms of equality model:
1) Comparator problem for pregnancy (now resolved under s 18 EqA + Dekker etc.);
2) Equal treatment restricted to those who are in materially similar circumstances, so no need to justify detrimental treatment of women where there is no similarly situated male;
3) Equality does not require minimum standards;
4) Equal treatment leads to inadequate consideration of who bears cost of pregnancy - courts are reluctant to put the sole burden on employer, so it falls on women.
These concepts frequently marginalise and denigrate pregnancy and parenthood. Instead, rights-based approach recognising the unique social value of parenthood should be adopted.
Advantages of rights-based approach:
1) No comparator problem;
2) Minimum rights exist independently of finding of equality - this can really be used to enhance the rights of women and recognise social value of parenthood;
3) Cost can be dealt with explicitly now, unlike SQ, since it is a right that women are simply entitled to. Policy decision balancing the various factors and responsibilities of state, employer and individual can be determined.
4) Recognises specific social value of pregnancy and parenthood - equality does not recognise any value of pregnancy and parenthood as such, just that it must not be a disadvantage.
McGlynne
‘Reconciliation of Paid Work and Family Life in EU law’ - argues that EU law has generally been progessive in terms of WL and FF policies through pursuing its aim of reconciliation of occupational and domestic responsibilities. Aim of reconciliation policy is to enable women greater scope to engage with the labour market, in order to enhance intra-community competition and competition within the labour market, as well as promoting a more assiduous pro-creation climate as a necessary means of economic growth.
Argues EU legislative instruments have been very progressive in this regard - e.g. Part Time Workers Directive which has sought to create a more flexible workplace for women to engage more in labour market, since they can better balance part time work with their responsibilities.
Criticises CJEU as being reactionary by perpetuating and reinforcing traditional gender stereotypes by allowing domestic laws which give specific parental entitlements to women and not men, thus legitimating the status quo and not recognising role of men in parenthood. E.g. Commission v Italy and Abdoulaye. However, this is 2001 so pre Roca-Alvarez - so CJEU has become more progressive.
However, whilst generally positive she makes a feminist critique of the EU in pursuing reconciliation policy - needs to be supplemented with policies that focus on the social and private aspect of FF and WL balance policies, independently of the EU’s economic aims.
