Irish fathers look set to benefit from two weeks paid paternity leave

Marz66

seamus wrote: »

My concern with this would always be that they would keep it at six months and allow it to be shared. Which doesn't really help anyone.

Equality can really only go so far; the process of childbirth is massively inequal, and you cannot legislate yourself out of that fact. Women need to breastfeed, they may be uncomfortable or downright infirm following the birth, and by and large women will have more sleep loss and stress than men.

Yeah I agree the mother should be given a guaranteed amount of maternity leave. Maybe 2 or 3 months though. With option for mother or father to take the rest of it. Some mothers who had a straight forward birth and who don't breastfeed might be ready to return to work then.

If only the woman is guaranteed the larger part of the leave then she could still be at risk of discrimination at work (employer possibly presuming she will take leave). If it is only possible that she will take the leave eg difficult birth, breastfeeding, and that the man might take a larger portion of leave then things might be more equal for both mother and father.

AndonHandon

Grayson wrote: »

You're assuming that

1) The man doesn't care for the child as much
2) The woman might have a better paying job.

Assuming that the woman is always going to be a stay at home mother is pretty sexist.

1) The mother needs more time to recover from the ordeal of carrying a child around inside her and then ejecting that child
2) If the leave was optional to be shared between the parents then the better paid mother can go back to work

RobYourBuilder

IBEC aren't best pleased with the proposal.

Today, Ibec head of HR, Maeve McElwee said it is “unclear how the Minister sees paternity leave being introduced”.

She said that if the government is building on proposals whereby mothers share two weeks of their leave with the father, it creates a “more complex and administratively costly situation” for employers.

"Although Ibec recognises the importance of achieving reconciliation of professional and private life, any proposal for a period of maternity leave to be shared with the father will result in a disproportionate burden for employers trying to maintain their competitiveness, in particular, small and medium sized businesses."

“Employers will face an increased administrative and cost burden ensuring that temporary cover is arranged, or duties are re-allocated where an employee is on leave, regardless of the length of leave,” she said. “Alternative arrangements will have to be made in a way which ensures that there it does not result in a loss of productivity, or output.”

She pointed out that the European Union has already extended the period of parental leave to 18 weeks, which “gave parents, including fathers, an entitlement to an extra four weeks of leave”.

“There is no requirement to legislate for any period of maternity leave to be shared with the father of child, where generous provisions already exist.”

http://www.thejournal.ie/employers-paternity-leave-1894396-Jan2015/“Employers

Kermit.de.frog

This country is going to end up like Greece the more these silly initiatives keep coming out. Ultimately it's going to cost jobs. I'm all for father's rights and feel strongly about it but from an economic point of view things like this, in our space right now, are not a good idea.

Ironically the same people here that will say "great for equality" and all that good stuff are the exact same who shout at the top of their voices criticising the lack of jobs.

Venus In Furs

seamus wrote: »

I took 3 weeks out of my holidays and I needed 3 more.

There is a benefit to employers in this. Any parent will tell you that during the first 8 weeks you barely know your own name. Fathers coming into work can be a liability and are better off staying home and helping with the workload there.

This. I know there are plenty of things people don't have to be parents to understand (I'm not a parent myself) but I don't think someone who isn't a father can know what time off he needs, or know fully what it entails once there is a new baby in the home - particularly if there is already a young child/children.

While it is more about the mother, as she needs recovery time following pregnancy and birth, and may be breastfeeding, it's not only about the mother.

Getting up early and working five days a week with next to no sleep, and then all the work involved helping the mother look after the baby (and another child/children if applicable) after work (couples do use this time to let the mother have a rest) must be very very hard - mentally and emotionally, let alone physically.
I know men have always done it, but that doesn't mean things don't deserve to be improved on that front.

rainbow kirby

About time fathers got something! 2 weeks should be just a starting point, new fathers in the UK get to share parental leave with their partners properly from April.