Parents handed flexitime option

The Government has announced plans to grant parents flexible leave from work to look after their newborn children, according to reports.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg confirmed the “radical” reforms as part of a huge shake-up of current parental arrangements, with the new system set to be in place by 2015.

The new proposal could also give all other employees the right to request flexitime in an attempt to cover work patterns for parents looking after a new child.

Liberal Democrat leader Clegg criticised “clapped out” existing rules and said working arrangements need to be evolved to give women a “real choice” after having giving birth.

Under the proposal, mothers will be able to take maternity leave from the workplace at any point, with any surplus annual leave left over set to be passed on to her partner instead. The move will provide parents with the option of taking up to a year off together or give them choice to “chop up” time spent with their new child, with a maximum nine months of guaranteed pay.

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