New Conservative Party Welfare Chief Said Cutting Maternity Rights Would Be 'Better For Business'
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride, appointed last week, said the laws governing parental leave were "onerous."
It has come to light that the new Tory welfare head advocated for a reduction in maternity rights to "provide a massive shot in the arm for British business".
The Cabinet member urged the government to "seriously consider" reversing parents' entitlement to leave after the birth of a child.
Yesterday evening, Labour's Jonathan Ashworth claimed the news demonstrated why "working people just can't trust the Tories."
Mr Stride expressed his displeasure with the practice of "statutory maternity leave," in which employees "can require their employer to provide up to 52 weeks of maternity leave and to keep their job open for their potential return," in an article published on the Conservative Home website in September 2012.
“These rights accompany each and every pregnancy and so it is not uncommon for an employee to take multiple breaks from work in relatively close proximity and for up to a year on each occasion,” Mr Stride said.“Under these circumstances, not only do employers have to struggle with filling jobs on a temporary basis for lengthy periods but they also often face considerable uncertainty as to how long the actual period of absence will be.”
He added that maternity leave could also produce "resentment" among colleagues who must step in.
He acknowledged in the piece that "politics around this issue are tricky," and that "worldwide experience showing that changes in this area of employment law tend to ratchet in one direction alone — towards greater generosity to employees."
Mr Stride stated that there was "some evidence" that "more generous," or lenient, maternity policies reduced the chance of mothers with young children returning to the workforce.
Mr Stride, in his capacity as Secretary of Work and Pensions, is now engaged in talks over the government's commitment to keeping its promise to raise benefits and the state pension in line with inflation. In the upcoming Autumn Statement, a decision will likely be made public.
Mr Ashworth, Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “The Tories crashed the economy, forced a run on pension funds, sent mortgage rates soaring and now want working families and pensioners to pay the price.
“They’ve already threatened to break their promise on the Triple Lock again and to cut Universal Credit for hard-pressed families.
“Now we learn the new Work and Pensions Secretary previously threatened vital employment rights for new parents.”He added: “Only Labour offers the leadership and ideas Britain needs to fix the economy and grow it in the interests of working people.”
A British worker can take up to 52 weeks of maternity leave, but their employer must only pay them 90 per cent of their wage for the first six weeks.
Although parents in Germany are only guaranteed 14 weeks of paid leave for maternity or paternity leave, they can ask their employers for up to a year off.
Yesterday evening, a spokeswoman for Mr Stride responded, "This article is from over a decade ago. As it made clear at the time, Mel was not arguing against these kinds of employee rights and believes maternity leave has a vital part to play in facilitating the participation of women in the workforce.”