§ Mr. ChidgeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimates his Department has made of the current compliance costs of the Parental Leave Directive to the United Kingdom, in the context of the Employment Relations Bill; how many newly-entitled employees there will be; how many are expected to be(a) full-time and (b) part-time workers; and how many in each category are expected to be employed in firms with workforces (i) up to 10, (ii) up to 20, (iii) up to 50, (iv) up to 250 and (v) over 250. [69562]
§ Mr. Ian McCartney[holding answer 8 February 1999]: Estimates are not available in the form requested. However, the Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Employment Relations Bill, which has now been published, estimates the compliance costs of our proposals to implement the Directive at £36 million per year to employers. The estimate assumes that beneficiaries will include some 61,500 parents per year who will take up the new entitlement to parental leave, and 560,000 employees who will be protected by the statutory right when they take time off to deal with a domestic emergency. Full-time and part-time employees will be entitled to the new rights on the same basis.