In 2003 the government introduced two weeks of paid paternity leave for new fathers, now Minister for Children Beverley Hughes is expected to propose that this time be doubled.

This proposal has been met with mixed feelings from the small business community, who argue that they are happy for employees taking paternity leave, but feel that this should be worked out between employers and staff members and not legislated by the government.

Spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Matthew Knowles stated: “Our members believe working arrangements are a matter for employees and employers to agree between themselves and many already do let staff take longer than two weeks’ paternity leave”.

“When the Government gets involved it just means inflexibility and mountains of paperwork and small companies already spend an average of 28 hours a week filling in forms. We don’t say paternity leave should not be increased, but leave it up to the employers and employees to sort out.”

33% of new fathers currently take more than two weeks of paternity leave, 40% take two weeks, and 25% take one week according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.