Do you know the rights of expectant fathers and partners from 1 October 2014?

An expectant father, or the partner of a pregnant woman, will be entitled to take unpaid time off work to accompany her to a maximum of two of her antenatal appointments.? We take a look at how this change will affect employers and how best to plan for more frequent requests.

The Government is aiming to achieve greater involvement of both of the child's parents in the earlier stages of pregnancy. Employees accompanying an expectant mother to her antenatal appointment are entitled to unpaid leave for one or two appointments. The time off is capped at 6  hours for each appointment.

An employer is not entitled to ask for any evidence of the antenatal appointment, such as an appointment card, as this is the property of the expectant mother attending the appointment.? However, an employer is entitled to ask the employee for a declaration stating:

• the date and time of the appointment;
• that the employee qualifies for the unpaid time off through his or her relationship with the mother or child;
• and that the time off is for the purpose of attending an antenatal appointment with the expectant mother that has been made on the advice of a registered medical practitioner, nurse or midwife.

There is no qualifying period for employees meaning that this is a 'day 1' right given to employees as soon as they start with an employer.

It is hoped that by offering this right to expectant parents in advance of their child being born, it will encourage involvement of fathers and partners with their children from the earliest possible stages.

If an employer or agency worker who is entitled to unpaid time off to accompany the expectant mother to an appointment and is denied this right by their employer or hirer, they can make a complaint to the employment tribunal within a 3 month period. If the tribunal upholds the complaint, it must make a declaration, and order compensation to the employee, which is calculated as twice the hourly rate of pay for each of the hours that the person would have taken off. Furthermore if an employee is dismissed as a result of exercising or seeking to exercise these rights, the dismissal is automatically unfair.