Dear all

The TUC has produced a guide which some of you may find of interest. 
It contains the text of UK and EU legislation relating to this area 
and explains the implications / possible implications of it's 
implementation and provides guides to good practice. The following is 
the text of the press notice for this publication.

Jenni Rockliff
Information Service
Trades Union Congress



date: 23 February 1999
embargo: 00.01hrs 26 February 1999
Trades Union Congress

Attention: labour and women's correspondents, women's, parenting, 
personnel magazines 
two pages
Great expectations - new TUC parents guide
     The recently published Employment Relations Bill will 
substantially improve the lot of working parents, but as a new guide 
published by the TUC today (Friday) shows, many of them are still 
missing out.

Great Expectations: A Guide to Maternity and Parental Rights and 
Benefits reveals that of the almost six million working parents with 
children under the age of eight, it is those employed in unionised 
workplaces who are the most likely to have the best maternity and 
parental rights.

For the majority of working women who choose to have children, the 
picture is not good, says the guide. A mere 5% of employers currently 
provide both extended maternity leave and additional pay, only 24% 
offer full-time workers a permanent switch to part-time work (just 22% 
a temporary change in working hours), and 17% of working women are 
excluded from Statutory Maternity Pay because they earn less than œ64 
a week.

But the TUC guide is full of examples where employers have worked in 
partnership with trade unions to bring about policies sympathetic to 
the growing number of individuals who combine work with raising a 
family. It cites the shopworkers' union USDAW which struck a deal with 
Littlewoods to allow prospective fathers paid time off to attend 
ante-natal clinics with their partners, and UNISON which negotiated 
with the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham to give employees over 
15 months' maternity leave (40 weeks of which are paid).

Yet Great Expectations makes it clear that it is being a member of a 
trade union which makes a real difference to the kind of packages 
offered to parents. Only 7% of private sector employers where there is 
no recognised trade union offer maternity benefits additional to the 
statutory minimum. The figure rises to 25% where union recognition 
exists. And 53% of private sector employers recognising unions have 
made arrangements for paternity leave, compared to only 23% in 
workplaces where there are no trade unions.

Case studies of family-friendly and decidedly unfriendly employers 
feature throughout Great Expectations including :

        John Ruane works for First Direct in Leeds, and is able to 
share childcare responsibilities with his wife, avoiding the need for 
expensive childcare. The downside is they don't get to spend much time 
together as a family. But banking union BIFU has negotiated up to one 
week's paid leave per year for parental reasons, a benefit John is 
very grateful for, especially as neither he nor his wife has any 
immediate family living nearby.

        Michelle Hickey worked as a stores person for a car components 
distributor, in a job that involved much lifting and carrying. When 
she became pregnant, and was no longer able to undertake those 
particular tasks, the company refused to offer her alternative work, 
and would only give her sick pay. Michelle subsequently took her 
employer to an employment tribunal and was successful in winning back 
her full pay.

Commenting on the report, TUC General Secretary, John Monks said: 
"Family-friendly working practices should be a fact of life, but too 
many employers have yet to wake up to the business benefits of 
actively helping employees avoid the stress of combining work and a 
young family. Unions really do hold the key. Where unions are 
recognised in the workplace, you'll find the most family-friendly 
employers. And although the Employment Relations Act will be a boon to 
working parents everywhere, there's still clearly a long way to go."

Ian McCartney MP, trade and industry minister added his support for 
the TUC's new guide:
"I welcome the publication of Great Expectations and congratulate the 
TUC in tackling this important topic. Family-friendly working is an 
increasingly important issue for workers and their families. The guide 
will be a valuable source of information and advice to workers, 
employers and representatives. It will also help to promote awareness 
of the new rights to parental leave, emergency time off and improved 
maternity rights which are being introduced by the Employment 
Relations Bill."

Great Expectations offers 180 pages full of facts and figures, 
providing trade unions, personnel officers and individuals with a 
definitive guide to the law as it relates to maternity and parental 
rights and benefits. Designed in A4 loose-leaf format, the publication 
need never be out of date. In fact anyone who purchases a copy will 
get a free insert on the family-friendly changes introduced when the 
Employment Relations Bill becomes law.

Great Expectations: A Guide to Maternity and Parental Rights and 
Benefits is available from TUC Publications (0171 467 1294) price œ25 
to TUC member organisations, œ30 to charities and the voluntary 
sector, and œ85 to other organisations. Postage and packing is charged 
at an additional 15%.


TUC
Congress House
Great Russell St
London
WC1B 3LS


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