New legislation has been passed, starting from the 1st October 2014, for fathers or partners of unborn children to be able to attend up to two antenatal appointments without any penalisation from their employers. These appointments include baby scans but must not last any longer than six and a half hours.
Whilst fathers or partners can attend they will not be paid for any kind of wages lost due to the attendance of these appointments.
It's quite sad that unlike mothers, fathers won't be paid for these times away from the workplace, but it is a MASSIVE step in the right direction. Not everyone can afford to take unpaid time off for appointments, but the option is there.
An important factor is that for once the law has acknowledged the make up of modern day families and will offer this "allowance of attendance" to anyone that satisfies the "qualifying relationship" criteria. This means same sex couples, and couples involved in surrogacy can benefit from this change in employment law. Even if the partner of the pregnant party isn't the biological father he can still request the time to spend at these appointments.
I am sure the majority of you agree with me, when I say that scans and antenatal appointments are vital for fathers or partners to feel included in the whole pregnancy experience. According to my other half, he felt it helped him bond with our youngest son.
I would LOVE to hear what you have to say on this matter. Is it enough? Do fathers need to be there? Give me a shout on Facebook or Twitter with you responses.
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