CIPP FOREWORD
To coincide with International Men’s Day on 19 November 2018, the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP) conducted research to establish whether there is a ‘gender gap’ when it comes to taking statutory leave.
HELEN HARGREAVES MSc ChFCIPPdip ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF POLICY
International Men’s Day (http://internationalmensday.com/) was established in the UK to address issues relating to men’s mental health, including challenges
faced by men as parents, and to celebrate the positive value men bring to their families and communities. When Shared Parental Leave was introduced in 2015, it was hoped that it would tackle some of the challenges faced by men as parents, but there is still a long way to go as indicated by the results, which show that with the exception of Shared Parental Leave, women in the workplace are taking more statutory leave than men. This research uses findings from a survey representing responses from payroll professionals responsible for 20,827 workers in the UK, as well as looking at various court cases to establish whether there is a gender gap when it comes to taking statutory leave, and to explore the reasons why. Perhaps the reasons are not surprising when you consider that the introduction of maternity leave was not originally to care for the child as often thought, but instead for the mother to recover from childbirth. In Spain it was originally intended to enable breastfeeding, see Pedro Manuel Roca Alvarez v Sesa Espana EET SA on page eight. Whilst Shared Parental Leave moves us on from the original purpose of maternity leave, and fathers now have rights to Paternity Leave and Shared Parental Leave, it is still typically the mother who takes time off to care for children. Looking at the cases outlined within this paper, perhaps the reason for the low take up of statutory leave amongst men is due to financial reasons, outlining the gender pay gap and equal pay gap which is still prevalent. Perhaps the reasons are linked to ‘traditional’ views of childcare being the mother’s responsibility?
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IS THERE A GENDER GAP WHEN TAKING STATUTORY LEAVE OF ABSENCE?
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