EU regulations could undermine maternity leave
The European Union is on the verge of restructuring maternity leave in the UK which could see mothers receiving full pay for 20 weeks as opposed to 90% of their pay for six weeks and £125 a week for the next 33 weeks. It is believed that the changes could cost UK businesses around £2.5 billion a year and may well lead to a number of companies shunning the attractions and capabilities of young women in the UK.
These proposed changes could not have come at a worse time as more and more companies in the UK struggle to survive. It is unclear as to why the European Union feels that the UK needs to change although this is maybe just the next stage of unifying maternity leave regulations across the EU. Either way there will be a cost to the UK economy, UK businesses and ultimately any change in the cost base for UK operations will at some stage be passed onto consumers.
There is no getting away from the fact that a £2.5 billion increase in costs per year is unsustainable especially at this point of the economic cycle. Whether the UK government is able to fight back and exempt the UK from these new regulations, or at best delay their introduction, remains to be seen.
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