Paid parental and paternity leave must be introduced if parents, particularly fathers, are to gain equality in the workplace, the Equality Authority has said. The chief executive of the Equality Authority, Mr Niall Crowley, yesterday condemned the Government's record in providing statutory leave entitlements to parents as "one of the worst in Europe".
Mr Crowley was speaking at the Family Friendly Workplace conference in Dublin. The Programme for Government included a commitment to "strengthening" parental leave entitlements, however he said there was no indication a commitment to paid leave was forthcoming.
"It remains to be seen exactly what that 'commitment' will mean, but we require an extension of the amount of leave that can be taken and introduce payment for that leave."
Ireland lagged behind its European counterparts in this area, he said, despite the fact that we had gained equivalent economic strengths.
Corporate culture was also a barrier to a fair work life balance, he said, and many businesses were not even complying with current legislation. "The scale of pregnancy-related discrimination is a persistent and widespread phenomenon, particularly in smaller non-unionised businesses."
One third of the cases brought before the authority were on gender grounds, he said, and the majority of these involved maternity-related discrimination. Men taking up flexible work arrangements were also suffering negative treatment in the workplace, he said.
Addressing the conference the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Ms Coughlan, said new maternity protection legislation would be published before the end of April.
She reiterated the Government's commitment to "strengthening the parental leave scheme" and said that fathers would be entitled to pay for attending two ante-natal classes.
A spokeswoman for Ms Coughlan said the question of whether leave would be paid was a matter for the Department of Justice. A spokesman for the Department of Justice said it was considering recommendations of the review of the Parental Leave Act, but indicated that payment for parental leave remained unlikely.
The Director of social policy with employers group IBEC, Ms Jackie Harrison, said work and parenthood created conflicting pressure for employees and resulted in problems such as lost time, reduced productivity, an increase in anxiety and even job loss. Four out of five companies provided "some element of flexible working arrangements", however employers and employees could not, in isolation, create a family-friendly, work/life balance.
"The availability of high-quality, flexible and affordable childcare and efficient public transport which reduces daily commuting times are both factors which will directly impact on the quality of life and choices of working parents," she said.
Flexibility in work: By the numbers
• 62 per cent of companies surveyed by IBEC have part-time workers
• 36 per cent operated flexi-time
• 29 per cent operated job-sharing
• 26 per cent offered personalised working hours
• 10 per cent allowed workers to compress their hours into a shortened working week
• 5 per cent offered term time working
The recent IBEC survey indicates four out of five Irish companies provide some element of flexible working arrangements.
Equality Authority recommendations
• An extension of the leave that can be taken
• introduction of paid paternity leave
• The inclusion of same sex couples who are parenting in these provisions
