§ Jim DobbinTo ail the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many residents of Heywood and Middleton qualify for paid leave entitlements. [168532]
§ Mr. SutcliffeAll workers resident in Heywood and Middleton qualify for paid annual leave entitlements; at least four weeks as set out in the Working Time Regulations. While all women are entitled to 26 weeks ordinary maternity leave, only those who meet the eligibility criteria NM' be able to claim statutory maternity pay for that period.
909WAll employees in Heywood and Middleton who are eligible will be entitled to take statutory paternity leave with pay and statutory adoption leave with pay.
§ Jim DobbinTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many residents of Heywood and Middleton have benefited from a reduction of the maximum working week to 48 hours. [168533]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe Working Time Regulations provide workers with the right to refuse to work more than 48 hours on average, if they do not want to. Numbers for Heywood and Middleton are not available. However, it has been estimated that around 300,000 workers resident in the North West stood to benefit from the introduction of the weekly working time limits in 1998.
§ James PurnellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the effect on residents of Stalybridge and Hyde of new rights for night-shift workers. [168743]
§ Mr. SutcliffeThe Working Time Regulations came into force on 1 October 1998. The regulations limit working time to 48 hours per week averaged over a 17-week reference period. For night workers the limit is eight hours per day on average including overtime where it is part of a night worker's normal hours of work. There is no opt-out from the night working time limit.
Night workers are entitled to 11 hours rest between working days, one day's rest per week, and a 20-minute in work rest break if the working period is longer than six hours.
All night workers should be offered a free health assessment before they start working night and thereafter at regular intervals for as long as they are working nights. The health assessments should take account of the nature of the work and the restrictions on a worker's working time under the regulations. Workers who suffer from problems as a result of working at night, should as far as practicable be offered alternative day work.
All workers are entitled to four weeks paid annual leave. There is no specific data available for night shift workers in Stalybridge and Hyde.