Employment Bill
4:30 pm
Mr Alan Johnson (Minister of State (Employment and the Regions), Department of Trade and Industry; Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, Labour)
The amendment seeks, first, to provide safeguards against a non-existent problem. Detriment is dealt with in schedule 6(24), which will amend section 47C(2) of the Employment Right Act 1996, so that employees who exercise their right to ordinary or additional adoption leave do not suffer detriment as a result.
The other point that the hon. Gentleman raised was the case, for example, of someone due to be disciplined for a misdemeanour and the fact that the person is on maternity, paternity or adoption leave should not prevent the disciplinary process from proceeding. People should not suffer detriment on issues that are entirely unconnected with the leave. That does not have to be written into the Bill, because the issues on which they cannot suffer detriment are in the Bill. Matters such as whether an employee should be treated in the same way as every other employee on issues entirely unrelated to adoption, paternity or maternity do not have to be in the Bill as they are already there by omission. The 1996 Act cites circumstances such as whistleblowing or study leave where no detriment will be suffered by the employee and we have specifically followed the architecture of such legislation. The individual cannot suffer detriment for taking leave. That is written into paragraph 24 of schedule 6. The fact that other issues
not related to leave are not mentioned means that employers are entitled to treat those employees in the same way as others.
I hope that, with those assurances, the hon. Gentleman will seek to withdraw the amendment.