Jersey’s employment laws could be failing people at their most vulnerable, business leaders have warned, as they called for urgent reforms to support workers dealing with fertility treatment and baby loss.
The Institute of Directors said that these “deeply personal and often traumatic experiences” are not accommodated under current legislation, creating “unnecessary stress for affected individuals and uncertainty for employers seeking to offer support”.
Lynn Cleary, Chair of the IoD’s People Leadership & Strategy Sub-Committee, outlined the concerns of the business community in a letter to the Family Friendly Post-Implementation Sub-Panel.
She was responding to a call for evidence from the scrutiny sub-panel, which was set up to assess how new family-friendly legislation has impacted local businesses and parents.
The panel of politicians is due to scrutinise how changes to the Employment Law made in 2018 and 2020 have been implemented, and what the impact has been.
The IoD said that the current legal framework offers a “strong baseline” for family-friendly policy, but could be made “more inclusive and practical”.
As well as concerns around the lack of statutory provision for employees undergoing fertility treatment or experiencing baby loss, business representatives highlighted the fact that statutory paid parental leave only begins at the point of adoption.
Several members have identified areas where the legislation does not yet reflect the realities of family formation and modern workplace demands
Lynn Cleary, Chair of the IoD’s People Leadership & Strategy Sub-Committee
The letter explained: “Jersey’s foster-to-adopt model allows children to live with prospective adopters prior to legal adoption, yet statutory paid parental leave begins only from the point of adoption.
“This delay overlooks the critical early bonding period and the need for parental presence from the time of placement.”
Some business leaders observed that the lack of guidance around leave planning means time off is concentrated in the summer months, leading to “under-resourced teams and disrupted operations”.
The IoD recommended that Government should issue best-practice guidance on leave planning to help employers avoid operational disruption caused by clustered extended leave during peak periods.
Business leaders praises the legislation for “providing greater flexibility and choice for
parents”, but said that “many families are unable to take full advantage of the leave
entitlements due to affordability”.
The letter explained that while both parents can technically share up to 52 weeks of leave, statutory paid leave is disproportionately weighted toward Parent 1 – which is typically the birth mother – with Parent 2 entitled to just six weeks.
“This imbalance risks reinforcing traditional gender roles and contributes to the gender pay and authority gaps,” the IoD said.
Businesses leaders called for a more equitable approach to paid leave for both parents, and “targeted support for non-traditional family journeys” such as infertility, loss, and fostering.
IoD Jersey recommended that the Government should extend statutory paid leave to foster-to-adopt placements from the point of fostering, introduce leave provisions for fertility treatment and baby loss, and equalise statutory paid leave for both parents.