Leave

On 3 October 2001, the social partners and the outgoing Labour Party (Det norske Arbeiderparti, DnA) government concluded an 'agreement of intent' with the view to creating a more 'inclusive working life'. It is hoped that the agreement will help to reduce the utilisation of sickness benefits and

In a recent study, the Institute for Employment Research (Institut für Arbeits- und Berufsforschung, IAB) of the Federal Employment Service (Bundesanstalt für Arbeit) has analysed the effects of the extension of parental leave entitlement to three years in 1992 ('Erziehungsurlaub. Hilfe zur

In summer 2001, Spain's law on the reconciliation of work and family life has been in force for around 18 months. It lays the basis for sharing family and domestic responsibilities, thus offering an opportunity for progress in equal opportunities for men and women. We examine the law and its effects

The annual Conference on the Family, held on 11 June 2001, was an opportunity for the French government to announce an extension of paternity leave from three days to two weeks, aimed at promoting greater equality between the sexes. However, the government did not satisfy expectations on the

The incumbent Labour government has triggered a general election to be held on 7 June 2001 - just under 11 months earlier than it was required by law to do so. Here we highlight what the three main UK-wide political parties' election manifestos say on industrial relations issues. The Labour and

Danish men do not fully utilise their rights to take parental leave. Under the various current schemes, a father may take leave for a total period of 66 weeks, including childcare leave of up to 52 weeks. However, under 4% of fathers do so. On average, men take only 2.2 weeks of leave during the

In late 2000, a small Spanish business group, the Circle of Employers, was forced to make a public apology for suggesting that employed women pay the employers' maternity leave costs. Though the proposal was widely condemned as being unconstitutional and inapplicable, as well as socially and

On 7 December 2000, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) published a green paper entitled Work and parents: competitiveness and choice [1], setting out a range of options for helping working parents balance their family and work responsibilities. Its proposals are currently the subject of a