Grandparents to get paid time off work for childcare

GRANDPARENTS will be given the right to paid time off work to look after their grandchildren, under plans to be introduced by George Osborne.

The Chancellor announced he will allow parents who want to return to work more quickly to transfer some of their maternity or paternity leave to grandparents. This could mean the state pays grandparents £140 a week for childcare duties.

The policy has echoes of an idea first floated by Harriet Harman, the former deputy leader of the Labour Party, before the General Election.

Only grandparents who are working would qualify for the paid leave. It will allow them to reclaim their jobs for up to a year after a newborn grandchild arrives. Mr Osborne said the scheme showed the Tories were there to ‘back working families’. He added: ‘More than half of mothers rely on grandparents for childcare when they first return to work after having a baby.

‘In many families, grandparents play a central role in caring for their grandchildren and helping to keep down the costs of childcare. Increasing numbers of grandparents, however, also want to remain in work themselves.’

Employment Minister Priti Patel denied that the Conservatives had pinched Labour’s policy. ‘We’ve been very clear that we’re putting childcare at the centre of government pol- icy,’ she told Sky. ‘This is a continuation of what we’ve been doing.’

But Adam Marshall, of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: ‘Another change to parental leave policy is the last thing businesses need. The last set of changes hasn’t even bedded in yet, and many firms will be astonished that the Government has decided to intervene yet again.

‘Most employers are sympathetic when parents or grandparents need flexibility to help with caring duties, and many go out of their way to accommodate affected staff.

‘But adding new legislation – and increasing the administrative headache and uncertainty businesses already face – is not the way to go.’