Childcare
Government claims success for childcare roll-out
The Government is claiming success for the extension of free childcare to two year olds,...read more
Half of working mums rejected in flexible working request
A new survey has revealed nearly half of working mums have asked their boss for flexible working hours, but it has been turned down. Workingmums.co.uk. looks at the predicament for working parents and how they have been affected by their employers’ refusals.
A new survey has revealed nearly half of working mums have asked their boss for flexible working hours, but it has been turned down. Workingmums.co.uk. looks at the predicament for working parents and how they have been affected by their employers’ refusals.
Our survey said
We asked ‘Have you ever asked your employer for flexible working?’. Nearly half (45%) told us they had made a request, but it had been turned down. Another 14% said they hadn’t dared to ask because they were ”too scared” of possible consequences. However, nearly one third (31%) told us they had asked their boss for flexible working and had been successful in their request. Only 5% of those polled said they had not put in a request because they thought it wasn’t suitable for their job type.
Consequences
Some working parents seeking a better work/life balance to be able to make school drop-offs and pick-ups or to keep careers ticking over while youngsters are small told our poll about serious consequences they had suffered after they’d put in a request to work flexibly. One mum said: ”A few weeks after asking, I was made redundant. I am now finding it extremely difficult to get a part time/flexible job that covers childcare costs.” Another mum told us: ”The same thing happened to me after working six years for the same company. Totally unfair, but you can’t prove it was related.”
Some working parents reported a failure to get flexible working had led to them deciding not to go back to work because it wasn’t economically viable once childcare costs had been factored in. One told us: ”All I asked for was to drop about four hours a week and also to start half an hour later to enable me to take my daughter to school. This was refused. I worked out the cost of childcare/tax credits, etc, and it just wasn’t worth going back to work. Really struggling to find a suitable vacancy.”
Where does the law stand?
Currently, only parents of children under 17 and carers can apply. However, the Government signalled its intent to allow all employees to make a flexible working request when it first came to power. But its bid to push for greater flexibility for workers looks set to be rigorously opposed by business organisations. The Institute of Directors has warned any new formal legislation will result in significant new costs to businesses at a time when organisations are trying to beat the economic downturn. Instead, successful informal practices of asking for flexible working should be allowed to continue, it has urged. Currently, only parents of children under 17 and carers can apply.
To be eligible to apply for flexible working, an employee must have been continuously employed for 26 weeks at the time of the application. An employee can only make one application in a 12-month period.
Bosses can turn down a request by citing one of eight grounds, such as if granting an application would result in additional costs or a detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demands, or a detrimental impact on quality or performance.
Is the UK making progress?
Andy Lake, editor of www.flexibility.co.uk, and co-editor of the Smith Institute think-tank report, Can Homeworking Save the Planet?, told Workingmums.co.uk that the majority of formal requests under the legislation – around 90% – are granted. ”So, if the response is shedding new light on informal requests, these are very interesting results,” he said.
”It is encouraging that over a third of employers are willing to grant the requests. But the 45% refusing shows there is still a long way to go. That only 5% thought their job unsuitable for flexible working shows a continuing gulf in perception between employees and employers on the issue.”
www.flexibility.co.uk
Related
Work Life Balance
Finding it hard to focus? You’re not alone
Are you finding it hard to pay attention to anything? What about your kids? There has been...read more
Comments [2]
Anonymous says:
Great survey, just wondered if you might have more information on the number and type of respondents at all. Inge
Anonymous says:
Interesting article, but many are paying lip service to the notion of part-time working. My employer, a leading market research agency, had gained a large amount of goodwill and initial staff commitment by allowing new mothers to return on part-time contracts, and the company has used this fact to positively enhance its recruitment communications. However, there has been no active support from the company for part-timers to help them make their part-time contracts work. Those who have left as a result of the stress of juggling 5-6 day workloads on 3-4 day contracts have been replaced with full-time staff and two consecutive waves of redundancies have now seen almost all part-time staff conveniently disappear. What a waste of talent and commitment!