EU Maternity Proposals 'Unaffordable'

A business group has said that European plans to change maternity rights will cost UK firms an estimated £2.5bn per year.

The proposals, which will be voted on next month, outline that women leaving work to give birth would be entitled to 20 weeks' leave on full pay.

In the current financial crisis, The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has argued that this would be an 'unaffordable' option.

However, others have responded saying it would be wrong to allow policy to be influenced by economic downturns of a temporary nature.

Currently, women in the UK are entitled to a full year off, with the first six weeks on 90% pay. This is followed by 33 weeks on Statutory Maternity Pay of just under £125 a week. The remainder is unpaid.

Using data from an assessment carried out on behalf of the European Parliament, The BCC put the bill for extending maternity pay at full pay in the UK alone at £2.5bn.

Kieran O'Keeffe, Head of European affairs at the BCC said: "This directive should be about setting minimum EU standards for the health and safety of pregnant workers - not adding new payroll costs for overburdened companies and national social security systems.

"These figures confirm that the parliament's proposals are completely unaffordable as governments across the EU seek to deal with budget deficits and the aftermath of recession."

The European Commission had originally proposed to extend maternity leave to 18 weeks, while allowing individual member states to decide the level of pay. This was described as a "better, more affordable option" by Mr. O'Keeffe.

Godfrey Bloom, UK Independence Party MEP described the introduction as "madness", saying it would harm many small businesses, as well as making it harder for women, as employers to hire those of child-bearing age because of the potential costs.

Belinda Phipps, Chief Executive of the National Childbirth Trust, told the BBC: "It's absolutely right that those people, having had a baby, have the ability to be able to choose to be at home with that baby for a period of time that's going to enable them to feed a baby and build a relationship with a baby.

"Those babies form the population of the future, so we shouldn't be letting a temporary financial crisis drive our policy on supporting new mothers."

(BMcN/BMcC)