Clause 1 - Paternity leave
Employment Bill
11:15 am
Mr Alan Johnson (Minister of State (Employment and the Regions), Department of Trade and Industry; Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, Labour)
I shall do so in a long-winded way, if hon. Members do not mind, because it is important to make matters clear.
Paragraph (e) sets out the powers to make regulations that deal with cases. In many cases the employee will have a right to paternity leave under his contract of employment, or otherwise, that corresponds with his new statutory rights under the Bill. Removing the paragraph would mean that a father who had a contractual entitlement to paternity leave and qualified for the same right under the new provisions, would benefit from both. If his contractual right goes beyond the new right, nothing in the Bill will prevent him from enjoying that wider right. However, if the employer is already offering rights that are equivalent to those offered by statute, it would be wrong that he should suffer the double whammy of an employee receiving statutory rights on top of those.
The paragraph also mirrors the use of the parental leave regulations, by which special provisions are made for parents who qualify for both a contractual right to parental leave and leave under regulations. I expect the regulations made under this clause to mirror those that already exist in the parental regulations. With that explanation, I hope that hon. Gentleman will withdraw his amendment.