Under EU law, unpaid parental leave (available to parents of children under 5) must be increased from the current 13 weeks to 18 weeks by 8 March 2012, or one year later if this is necessary "to take account of particular difficulties" in implementation. According to Acas and other sources, BIS has confirmed that it will use the additional year's grace in order to accommodate ongoing work to address flexible working policies and parental leave provision as part of the Modern Workplaces initiative, so the extension will now come into force in the UK in March 2013.
Key contacts
Samantha Brown
Managing Partner, Employment, Pensions and Incentives, UK and EMEA, London
Steve Bell
Managing Partner, Employment, Industrial Relations and Safety, Asia and Australia, Melbourne
Emma Rohsler
Partner, Head of Employment, Pensions and Incentives, EMEA, Paris
Tim Leaver
Partner, London
Andrew Taggart
Partner, London
Fatim Jumabhoy
Partner, Head of Employment & Workplace Investigations, Asia, Singapore
Barbara Roth
Partner, New York
Christine Young
Partner, London
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