Scrutiny recommends amending parental leave entitlement to better reflect modern families
Scrutiny
27 January 2026
.png?w=1800&h=1200&ext=.png&width=720)
A Sub-Panel of the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel has highlighted the need to amend Jersey’s parental leave system to ensure single-parent families are receiving the same parental leave entitlement as two-parent households, and to ensure it supports different family types equally.The Sub-Panel has published a report following a detailed review of the family friendly elements of Jersey’s employment legislation. The review examined how the legislation has been implemented in practice and the impact it has had on families, employers and carers across the Island.
Under the current legislation, parental leave entitlement is granted on a per-parent basis. This means single-parent families effectively have access to half of the total leave available to two-parent households, and their children accordingly gain half of the benefit of this caring time.
After considering the evidence, the Sub-Panel has recommended that the Minister explores options for providing additional support for single-parent families, such as enhanced paid leave or supplementary benefits, and that an action plan regarding the required amendments to legislation and policy framework is presented to the States Assembly by June 2027.
The Sub-Panel also recommends that the Minister take a progressive approach to the law by exploring the option of extending the existing leave entitlements to grandparents, family members and carers who play a significant role in the early stages of a child’s life. These recommendations aim to make the legislation more child-centred and equitable for all children.
Chair of the Sub-Panel, Deputy Louise Doublet, said: ‘When the States Assembly introduced more family friendly employment legislation, the intention was to support all families. However, the evidence we have gathered during this review suggests that the impact is not always felt equally in practice. Single-parent families are an important part of modern family life, yet the current framework does not always reflect their circumstances fairly, nor is it equitable for children from these families.
We also heard clearly that many different groups of islanders, including those on lower and middle incomes, shift workers, people on zero-hour contracts and the self-employed, cannot afford to take all of their parental leave. This means many children are not benefiting from being cared for by their parents in their earliest months, which can impact on their healthy development.
It is important that legislation delivers on its original purpose, and we encourage the Minister for Social Security to consider how access to parental leave and related support can be improved so that all families have a genuine opportunity to give their children the best possible start in life.
The recommendations in this report are firmly grounded in the evidence we received, and I would like to thank everyone who took the time to share their experiences with the Sub-Panel during the review.’
The Sub-Panel has also strongly recommended that the Minister make the necessary law changes to implement an outstanding recommendation from the Employment Forum to introduce 12-weeks paid maternity leave, and that funding proposals for it are presented in the next budget.
The report contains 22 recommendations in total, eight of which have been identified as key priorities. These include a call for the introduction of a clear, centralised communications strategy to improve public understanding of the current legislation, and to ensure agencies such as the Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service (JACS) and Jersey Business are offering clearer, targeted training and guidance to support employers and employees. Evidence gathered during the review highlighted a general sense of confusion amongst different groups, and from businesses, about the current provisions.
More than 430 people responded to a public survey launched as part of the review, sharing their real-life experiences as parents, grandparents and carers. The Sub-Panel also gathered evidence through community pop-up events in Parish settings, as well as written submissions from family support organisations, employer representatives and other stakeholders.
You can read the report in full on the States Assembly website and more information about the review can be found on the Scrutiny pages.
