HR staff 'need not panic about new maternity leave legislation'

People in HR jobs have been told not to concern themselves too much with a recent proposal made by a European Parliament committee regarding maternity leave.

The committee has put forward a potential directive on the matter to a full vote of the European Parliament which recommends that maternity leave should be extended to 20 weeks on full pay.

In the UK at the moment, new mothers receive 90 per cent of their salary for the first six weeks they are off work, with a further £123 a week after that period expires.

Concerns about the new legislation have been raised, with a spokesman for the Institute of Directors telling the Daily Mail that the UK will face an annual bill of between £1.5 billion to £2 billion a year if the law is passed.

But Liz Gardiner, policy officer at charity Working Families, told Personnel Today that people in HR jobs should not be overly concerned about the law for the moment.

"It has to go through a number of processes in Europe," she said. "It's not going to happen here tomorrow, HR doesn't need to worry now."

Updated: 26 February 2010.
Categories: human-resources, market-and-industry-news.