Father’s Day is a useful opportunity to consider how your organisation supports working fathers and partners. However, support for parents should not be limited to one occasion in the calendar. Creating a workplace where employees feel able to balance their family responsibilities with their working lives can make a meaningful difference throughout the year.
Workplaces have made considerable progress when it comes to supporting maternity leave, but paternity leave and other family-friendly rights can sometimes receive less attention. Fathers and partners may not always understand what they are entitled to, while some may feel uncomfortable taking leave or requesting flexibility because they are concerned about how it could be perceived at work.
For employers, this highlights the importance of creating a culture where all parents feel comfortable using the rights and support available to them. Clear communication, supportive managers and straightforward processes can all help.
Understanding Paternity Leave
Paternity leave gives eligible fathers and partners time away from work following the birth or adoption of a child. Eligible employees can take up to two weeks of statutory paternity leave. The leave can be taken as two consecutive weeks or as two separate one-week periods, giving families greater flexibility over when that time is most useful.
Eligible employees may also receive Statutory Paternity Pay. This is paid at the statutory rate set by the government or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower. Employers should make sure employees know what they are entitled to, how much notice they need to provide and what information or documentation is required. Having a clear paternity leave policy can make the process easier for both employees and managers. The aim should be to make taking paternity leave feel like a normal part of working life rather than something employees feel they need to justify.
Giving Parents Greater Flexibility
Paternity leave is only one of the options available to working parents. Shared Parental Leave can give eligible parents greater flexibility over how they divide time away from work during their child’s first year. Parents may be able to share up to 50 weeks of leave and up to 37 weeks of statutory pay, depending on how much maternity or adoption leave and pay has already been used.
Unpaid parental leave can provide further flexibility as children grow. Eligible employees can take up to 18 weeks of parental leave for each child, up totheir 18th birthday. This can be useful when employees need additional time for family responsibilities, such as childcare arrangements or important changes in their child’s life.
Flexible working can also play an important role. Employees have the right to request flexible working from their first day of employment, meaning a new father or partner could ask to change their working hours, working pattern or place of work. Not every request will be suitable for every business or role, but approaching these conversations with an open mind can help employers find arrangements that work for both sides.
Creating a Supportive Culture
Having the right policies in place is important, but employees also need to feel comfortable using them. Some fathers may worry that taking their full entitlement to leave could affect how committed they appear or put them behind colleagues. Others may be reluctant to ask for flexible working because they do not want their family responsibilities to be seen as affecting their career. Managers can help address these concerns by talking openly about family-friendly policies and making sure employees understand that using their statutory rights is a normal part of working life.
Conversations about family responsibilities should be handled sensitively and without assumptions. Every family is different, so the focus should be on understanding the employee’s circumstances and discussing what support may be appropriate. Managers should also know where to find the organisation’s relevant policies and processes so they can provide consistent and accurate information when an employee approaches them.
Making Family Leave Easier to Manage
For small businesses, managing different types of family leave can sometimes feel complicated. Clear policies, straightforward processes and simple checklists can make it much easier to handle requests consistently. HRChest includes policy templates covering areas such as paternity leave, shared parental leave and flexible working, helping businesses put clear processes in place and make employees aware of the support available to them.
Managers can also use HRChest’s family leave resources and checklists to guide conversations, understand what information is needed and make sure the appropriate steps are followed. Having these resources ready means managers are better prepared when an employee announces that they are becoming a parent or asks about their options.
Keeping Support Practical
Supporting working dads does not have to mean making major changes to the way a business operates. Often, it is about good communication, sensible flexibility and making sure employees know they can discuss their family responsibilities when they need to.
An employee’s needs may also change as their family grows. The support that is useful following the birth of a child may be different from what they need when returning to work or managing childcare later on. Keeping conversations open gives employers and employees the opportunity to discuss what is working and whether anything needs to change.
Supporting fathers and partners at work is ultimately about creating a fair and family-friendly workplace. By communicating employees’ rights clearly, approaching requests with understanding and giving managers the tools to handle them confidently, businesses can help employees feel supported both as professionals and as parents.
EC Human Resources can help small businesses put that support into practice with ready-made policies, practical guidance and straightforward resources for managing family leave and flexible working.