Briefing: Taking children to work – should we change our approach in the UK?
It “has to be possible for politics and parenting to mix” according to Stella Creasy, MP, who was recently reprimanded for having her three-month-old baby in the House of Commons. However, the Commons Speaker then asked a committee of MPs to review the rules on this. In this briefing, Pam Loch asks, should other organisations be doing this too and allowing babies to come to work?
Stella Creasy decided she had no option but to take her baby with her as Parliament’s rules do not permit anyone to present constituents’ views during debates. She also did not want her baby to lose out in being with her “for six formative months”. Whilst proxy votes are permitted, arguably her role in representing a constituency personally is unique. However, her position on missing out on the formative months could be an argument put forward by many others.
In the UK there is no statutory right for an employee to bring their baby to work, but is it time to have a rethink and change our approach?
It is certainly not standard practice in the UK for babies to be brought to work in their formative years (or at all). New parents can benefit from maternity, adoption, paternity and shared parental and adoption leave, which is intended to ensure that parents can spend that formative time with their babies. However, it’s not quite as simple as that.
For example, a new parent may not qualify for maternity pay, or receive only statutory maternity pay (currently six weeks at 90% of earnings, and at a prescribed rate of £151.97 per week for the next 33 weeks, with the remainder of the 52-week maternity leave entitlement unpaid). This is likely to be insufficient to support them and their family. Maternity pay can be reclaimed from the Government so any decision to increase it would have significant ramifications on the public purse and potentially face resistance from employers if the Government tried to make any increase and increase the employer’s responsibility.
What about those employees who want to be working whilst also being with their baby? Given the challenges recruiting staff, would allowing babies at work address recruitment issues too?
Opinion is certainly divided – with many arguing the ‘workplace is for work’ and others who think that a more permissive approach would improve the lives of those who struggle with low income, or high childcare costs on a return to work, or for those who simply want to remain working whilst also caring for their baby.
How do other countries approach maternity leave and taking babies to work?
In Germany, family leave and pay conditions are more generous with mothers having the right to return to their previous jobs up to three years after giving birth. As a result, returning to work rates when children are young tend to be low. The vast majority return on a part-time basis with only one in ten returning to work full time. Employers will be more conscious of the potential three-year absence when making recruitment and promotion decisions though. However, in Germany traditional views about mothers staying at home and looking after young children seem to prevail currently, and half-day kindergarten hours are standard (although changing). Studies indicate that most German mothers do not work in the first year after their child is born, with around 43% returning to work after two years, but this jumps to 60% when kindergarten places become available.
Contrast this, and the position in the UK, with Japan, where childcare leave means that parents can take up to a total of 18 months off after birth. A parent will receive two-thirds of their base salary for the first six months of leave and then 50% for the remainder of their leave. If both parents take leave, they will receive two-thirds of their base salary. A survey conducted in 2015 suggests, however, that only 31.8% of full-time employees return to work within a year of giving birth and recent press reports suggest that employees are being told to schedule babies by rota, with priority for senior colleagues!
In the US there is no specific national law covering parental leave although some employees may be entitled to unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks and there are a few States providing better benefits than others. There is tax credit for childcare costs available, currently increased in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to a cap of 50% of up to $8,000 in costs per child, and $16,000 for two or more. The standard amount is, however, significantly lower, at 25-30% capped at £3,000 per child. Some employers (56% in 2016) do offer a dependent care assistance plan, enabling up to $5,000 to be paid tax free. US Census data indicated (2005-2007) that 70% of women return to work within a year after birth and 60% within six months.
It is perhaps not surprising then, given the limited rights to family leave in the US, that there are a number of initiatives being introduced to enable employees to bring babies to work. In Vermont’s Department of Transportation, employees can agree with their supervisor that they can bring their baby to work, provided it is a safe environment and a colleague has agreed to step in to babysit if necessary when they attend meetings. The aim of the programme, and similar ones adopted in other States, is to ease the transition of new parents back to work and it seems to have been successful in both private and State organisations. By February 2020 the Arizona Governor’s office said it had ‘hosted’ nearly 400 babies.
So, where does that leave the UK?
We can perhaps look to the US for lessons on how to balance work and childcare support, by providing on- or near-site childcare and benefits to support nursing mothers or even ‘hosting’ babies at work. However, we are not there yet and it is unlikely legislation will compel changes imminently.
If an organisation were to take the initiative and adopt a babies at work initiative, consultation with all employees would be key, as would very clear policies. As for productivity, the Parenting in the Workplace organisation in the US has noted that a parent with baby at work’s productivity sits at around 80%, and that they work hard to make it work. Contrast that with research that employees are generally productive for only five to six hours in an eight-hour work day and it does provide food for thought.
Pam Loch is an Employment Solicitor and Managing Director of Loch Associates Group.
Pam.loch@lochassociates.co.uk
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