Work and Families Bill

We will reflect further on that point—the hon. Gentleman has said that that means that we will not do so, but that is not the case. We think that one request is correct, because it would be difficult for employers and, indeed, employees if such requests were to become six-weekly rituals. In that case, someone who had been granted flexible working would have to ask for it again a little while later. Furthermore, if a dialogue were to take place in which everyone accepted that a company could not work like that, it is unlikely that that company would be able to grant a flexible working request two months later. Those are the reasons why we originally limited requests to one a year, but, obviously, if the society that the hon. Gentleman has mentioned wants to make a representation on that point, we can re-examine the matter. Fourthly, the Bill includes a number of deregulatory measures to help business manage absences related to child care. Businesses said that they need more notice of when women who do not want to take their full entitlement plan to return from maternity leave. As I have said, we have increased the period of notice from one month to two, which provides the kind of certainty that will greatly assist employers. Employers also said that they would like to calculate maternity, adoption and paternity pay in daily as well as weekly amounts, because the rules on maternity leave and pay were out of sync and were creating problems. As I have said, we intend to address those employers’ concerns. Businesses also said that the rules about contact were too restrictive, meaning that employees were missing out on things that they wanted to do, such as training. The Bill contains a power to allow ““keeping-in-touch days””, so that where employers and employees agree, a limited number of days of work can be done without employees sacrificing pay or ending their leave. We will follow that up by introducing regulations that make it clear that employers can make reasonable contact with their employees on maternity leave and adoption leave. Finally, the Bill also includes a power to deliver our manifesto commitments on annual leave. While many people already get bank holidays in addition to their statutory leave, some do not, and the powers in the Bill will enable us to rectify that. However, we do not underestimate the complexity of the matter and will consult fully before exercising those powers.