Clause 2 - Statutory paternity pay
Employment Bill
3:00 pm
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
The legislation that I mentioned is the Act into which we are inserting the clause: it is not some different legislation. As the Minister says, the problem is that the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 uses peculiar language that regards someone enjoying a period of statutory leave as someone who has ceased to work for an employer. That might pass muster if we are talking about maternity leave, which is quite long, but it is absurd and misleading in the case of a two-week period of paternity leave. No one would describe someone taking two weeks off as having ceased to work for an employer. To make it a condition of eligibility for statutory pay that one must have ceased working for the employer, meaning sitting at home rather than the workplace, is arcane drafting language obscuring the intended purpose.
The Minister said at the beginning of his remarks that the amendment makes the Government's intention crystal clear, which differs in tone from his usual opening response to amendments. I would have thought that the amendment might commend itself to him. If we are all on the same wavelength as to what the clause is supposed to say, he might consider whether it actually does say it, and return with an appropriate amendment on Report. If he does not think it is necessary, we may do that.