Last week Trevor Phillips, the new equality chief warned that mothers face more discrimination in work than any other group, including the disabled and the poorest ethnic minorities.
He is supporting the introduction of ‘annualised hours contracts’, allowing women to take entire weeks off work, if they make up the hours during the rest of the year. Annualised hours are already being used in some industries where there are peaks and troughs of demand and can be a way of getting round the need for overtime. Typically though, jobs that employ individuals to work on an annualised hourly contract are available within the lower skilled and often lower paid end of the labour market. They tend not to be reflective in higher skilled full time or quality part-time jobs.
The question is, how any organisation, small, medium or indeed large, can stay competitive if they are to employ women demanding even more increased flexibility options. Flexibility needs to be viewed in a more intelligent way. Has the idea of ‘flexibility’ at work now gone too far? Should it not be viewed with honesty and integrity by both employer and employee? Is it really helpful to us women, for the Government to persistently introduce even more legislation affecting women at work?
Is it now possible that the many negative perceptions, barriers and issues revolving around the recruitment and retention of women could be further embedded within organisations? Will this therefore hinder the recruitment and successful reintegration of women who have taken career breaks?
In a recent survey on the barriers that affect women returning to work and those in work, (recently conducted by A Brave New World Ltd), it was found that whilst most women are keen to return to the workplace and are even prepared to invest personal money into training to enable them to find quality jobs; there was an underline sense of fear surrounding the adverse perception of line management in organisations towards their needs. This was viewed as an enormous barrier to successful reintegration. As one women said ‘…as a result of reduced expectations mainly because I went from a full time to a part time position, I think they thought I was coming back as an assistant’.
Of course the government want companies to successfully employ and re-employ women. Apparently discrimination against women at work is running between £15 billion and £23 billion a year and the tax man would love to get his hands on the increased revenue. But what are the true barriers that affect successful recruitment and retention for women at work? The findings from our survey tell us that the main issues are not that women require more flexibility in their working hours, but that women want and need quality, affordable and flexible child care options for children up to the age of 16. One respondent from the survey said “It is difficult enough to create a balance between working and caring for your children without the huge costs involved…if the cost doesn’t scare you, the lack of provision probably will. It is a mind field out there.” Another commented “Child care in the early years was far easier when they were young; when they went to school I needed to find a different kind of childcare, requiring help with school pick ups and school holidays”
By introducing more and more legislation surrounding the employment rights for women, this can only be a further detriment to them and their careers. Are companies going to really want to continue investing in recruiting women, when they will have to comply with so many laws that will undoubtedly affect their profitability and customer service levels? Isn’t it about time that the government asked us women what we need from the employer in order for us to secure a happy, challenging, truly diverse and non-discriminatory work environment?
Let us not forget, that it is not just women who require flexibility and are discriminated against, but there are a small but growing population of men who have taken on the role of ‘carer’, ‘single parent’ and ‘house husband’ who also want to return to the workplace. They have the same issues and problems that women do; in fact they have a harder time during their re-employment process, hampered by similar and different perceptions on why they have been out of work.
In order for companies to be successful in retaining and re-employing women and men, they should spend time and money investing in a re-integration training programme. This provides companies with an opportunity to work with their managers on what their own issues are surrounding the recruitment of women and men with child care and caring responsibilities. The employer and employee are able to freely communicate with each other, at the start of employment, what their priorities and flexibility requirements are.
In conclusion, women must be realistic that if they want to be taken seriously and succeed in their chosen career, they too, must be prepared to be flexible and honest with their own and company expectations. The whole issue surrounding women and discrimination within the workplace is complex to say the least.
Written by Alice Jones and Katie Slater of A Brave New World Ltd. To find out more about us, visit our website www.abravenewworld.co.uk
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There is absolutely no doubt that women are discriminated against when they start their family. Even companies who put themsleves forward as enlightened employers are often doing nothing more than allowing their female talent to return to their old positions - with an agreement to work a few hours less for less pay. It is a very rare employer indeed who looks to develop and promote a talented part-time working mother!
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