What rights do you have as a dad wanting to take time off with a new baby or because your child is ill? It seems there's still a long way to go before the UK comes into line with the rest of Europe. The charity, Working Families puts you in the picture with regards to The Work and Families Act

Rights for working fathers - getting it straight:

• Paternity leave describes leave offered to new fathers around the time of the birth of their baby. Eligible fathers can take two weeks, but may choose to take only one
• Parental leave is designed to give working parents more time off to allow them to look after their child (currently up to the age of five, or 18 if the child receives Disability Living Allowance). You must have parental responsibility for the child
• Time off for Dependants, or 'emergency leave' is to deal with an emergency with someone who depends on you, such as a child being ill or a breakdown in childcare arrangements

At present, fathers have few legal rights allowing them to take time off to care for partners or children.

Here is a summary of what the law says a father can have at present:

The situation	The right
Partner (includes same sex partners) giving birth to a baby	Unpaid parental leave - 4 weeks maximum
Sharing childcare	Unpaid parental leave - 4 weeks maximum
Baby unwell	Unpaid time off to deal with the emergency

Some workplaces offer more than this, but many do not.

From 2007, fathers will be paid £112.75 per week for a fortnight's paternity leave. This may be progress but it still gives limited rights to working fathers and is only centred round the birth of a baby.

Unpaid parental leave

At the moment, parents are entitled to take 13 weeks unpaid leave to care for a child under five. The leave must be taken in blocks of a week or more and a father can only have four weeks off a year. When it was introduced in 1999, the government estimated that only two per cent of fathers would take it.

The main reasons for the poor take-up are:

• Fathers can't afford to take unpaid leave
• If paternity leave is only paid at a flat rate, this will exclude a good number of fathers too

At the moment, statutory maternity pay is paid at the rate of 90 per cent of earnings for the first six weeks and 92 per cent or more of that payment is funded by the government. We think it would be a good idea if Paternity Leave was funded in the same way. This would mean that there was little burden on small businesses as they would not have to meet the cost of paternity leave themselves.

Much of the work that went into the government's review, 'Work and parents - competitiveness and choice', and later the consultation around the Work and Families Act, has concentrated on persuading businesses that there is a case for more family-friendly policies.

But of course many business leaders say that there is no case for men being paid to stay away from the office. On the other hand, many employees say that the chance to spend more time with their families would make them happier, less stressed and more productive.

We're bottom of the league table

Around the time that Leo Blair was born and the Prime Minister said that he planned not to take time off (although he did in the end), the Finnish PM took parental leave of several months. If little changes as a result of the current review, the UK will continue to be right down the bottom of the European league table of family-friendly nations. Sweden gives 65 weeks paid parental leave - 52 of which are at 80 per cent of earnings, whilst France gives 52 weeks at a flat rate for the second and subsequent children. Denmark, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg all give varying lengths of paid parental leave.

Our government is stuck in the middle of a bitter fight between employers on the one hand who don't want to see more legal rights to time off for their staff, and employees who want the opposite.

More and more employers are now recognising the need for work-life balance and for employees to have a full family life. These employers are celebrated in the Working Families Employer Awards and Best Boss competition.

The future

Before the end of this parliament (2010), the government has promised to allow mothers to transfer some of their maternity leave to the father, or their partner. This will be called Additional Paternity Leave. While a step in the right direction, Working Families feel the system will be too complicated and will not help fathers whose partners do not work.

For more information about working parents' rights see the Working Families website, e-mail edads@workingfamilies.org.uk, text 07800 00 4722 or call our helpline on 0800 013 0313