CHILDCARE RIGHTS: 30 minutes of free legal advice on offer


The Association of Women Solicitors (AWS) has launched a paternity helpline to give legal and practical advice to male solicitors on their childcare rights.



The helpline, which complements the AWS's long-established maternity helpline, offers 30 minutes of free legal advice covering paternity leave, parental caring breaks, and returning to work.



AWS chairwoman Susha Chandrasekhar explained that the new service was needed because the Work and Families Act 2006 would increase fathers' childcare rights. These rights could include up to 26 weeks' additional paternity leave if the mother returned to work.



She added that only a quarter of men entitled to paternity leave actually took it and that the paternity helpline aimed to redress the balance - thereby supporting families.



Ms Chandrasekhar said both men and women were disadvantaged in the workplace when childcare was seen as purely a maternal issue. 'But once parenthood means that the father - as well as the mother - could be away from the office for a protracted period, who knows how attitudes might change for the better? Firms will have to recognise that childcare is an issue that affects the profession as a whole, and not just "the woman down the corridor".'



The AWS paternity helpline number is: 0870 043 4844.



Jonathan Rayner