The Government has set some policy objectives to make your workplace more family friendly.

A summary of the main changes to family friendly policies are shown below.

As of the 1st April 2007:

• All pregnant employees are entitled to take up to one year off, irrespective of length of service.
• Paid maternity and adoption leave has been extended from 26 weeks to 39 weeks. The Government has pledged to increase this to 12 months by 2010.
• Statutory maternity pay increases to £112.75 per week and is paid for 39 weeks, although for statutory purposes Ordinary Maternity Leave and Additional Maternity Leave remain at 6 months.
• An employee returning to work after Ordinary Maternity Leave is entitled to their old job back. If they return after Additional Maternity Leave they are entitled to their old job or a similar one with no less favourable terms and conditions. This now applies to all employers, regardless of size of workforce.

As of the 6th April 2007:

• An employee who cares or expects to care for an adult can apply to their employer to work flexibly. The employee must have completed at least 26 weeks’ employment and the adult they care for has to be their spouse, civil partner, relative, cohabitee or any person at the same address.

The statutory holiday entitlement is changing and as of the 1st October 2007 there have been some important changes to your rights to annual leave.

You are entitled to paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations Act 1998.

As of the 1st October, annual holiday entitlement is 4.8 weeks which is 24 days instead of 20 days for those working a five day week.

This is set to increase again to 5.6 weeks which is 28 days for those working a five say week from 1 April 2009.

A new law has been introduced to protect you and the public from the harmful effects of second hand smoke.

As of the 1st July 2007 it is against the law to smoke in virtually all enclosed and substantially enclosed public places and work places.

This law also extends to company vehicles.

If you are found smoking in a smoke free premise or vehicle it will result in a fixed penalty notice of £50 or a maximum fine of £200 if prosecuted and convicted by a court.

As of the 1st October 2007 the National Minimum Wage increased as detailed below:

• Adult rate (workers aged 22 and over) increased to £5.52
• Development rate for 18-21 year olds increased to £4.60
• Development rate for 16-17 year olds increased to £3.40