Only 1 percent of new fathers take up additional paternity leave
Posted on June 19, 2013 by allmumkind | Comments (0)
A study of figures on the new additional paternity rights which came into force in 2011/12, showed that only 1 in 172 new dads actually took advantage of the additional paternity leave on offer. Of the new fathers, almost 300,000 who were eligible only 0.6 per cent took extra time.
Under APL, a father is able to take up to 26 weeks’ leave (of which up to 19 weeks is paid), if their partner has returned to work no earlier than 20 weeks after the birth of the baby.
The TUC has pointed out that the statutory amount which a father would receive weekly needs to be reviewed as this is rarely topped up by employers. The current weekly allowance is £136.
To encourage more dads to take time off in the first year of their child’s life, the TUC is calling on the government to increase the statutory rate of pay to 90 per cent of average earnings, and up initial paternity leave from two to six weeks.
Frances O'Grady - TUC general secretary commented “Poor levels of financial support are preventing new dads from taking extra time off and are particularly affecting low-paid fathers who simply cannot afford to take leave,”
Posted in Flexible working | Tags: Paternity leave for new dads
Is work-life balance working for you?
Posted on June 4, 2013 by allmumkind | Comments (0)
Work-life balance working for you?
Did you know that the term "work-life balance' and 'flexible working' originated in America during the mid 80's. This was a period in the 80's when professionals were working much longer to the detriment of their families. The 'work-life balance' term was created.
Since then we have heard it more and more here in the UK and it is still a subject which can receive a negative reaction amongst a workforce. It can be divided from the 'real work' and often carries a stigma of 'part-time' and work for returning mothers.
Recent studies has been carried out to look at the drivers of trust and well-being. This also looks at environmental workplace factors, work-life integration, flexible working, workloads and what influence they actually have on well-being. It has been identified that there is a strong relationship between these factors and well-being which is a key predictor of performance. Workplaces needs to enable the workforce to flourish deliver their best. It shouldn't be simply about flexible working policies but a culture built on trust.
Posted in Flexible working
Homeworking on the increase
Posted on May 21, 2013 by allmumkind | Comments (0)
Over the past five years, homeworking has risen by almost 15% and the majority of these flexible roles are occupied by women.
The south-east has witnessed the sharpest rise in homeworking, which is closely followed by Scotland and Wales.
Since 2007, up to half a million UK employees are now working from home and gender wise, over two thirds of these are men and more women are working towards homebased roles.
New home-working roles being created this year is mostly occupied by women as a large proportion of new roles are part-time, which is considered a new trend.
Although home-working is on the rise this figure doesn't include the percentage of workers who on "occasion" work from home over each year.
It has been feared that the recession would disrupt flexible working practices, however, with home-working on the rise, the TUC has confirmed that it has become an essential part of the UK labour market.
Technological progress has had an impact on the rise of home-working, as less face to face contact with colleagues or customers has enabled this.
There are major benefits for businesses and employees when working from home through costs, however lack of team cohesion and loneliness can play a demotivating part.
Posted in Flexible working
Culture change could be inspired by shared parental leave
Posted on May 8, 2013 by allmumkind | Comments (0)
It was recently argued by the employment relations minister in the UK that our working practices and job structures have not changed over the years and are still stuck in the 1950's.
Jo Swinson suggests that there is a shortage of female representation in some sectors as traditional views of women and maternity leave contribute to women leaving their careers after having children.
During this economic climate we need more skills and talent to reach across entire workforces and many industries who are missing out on women's talent.
The employment relations minister is fully behind a "new shared parental leave system" which would grant families more flexibility. She suggests there could be more of a "mix and match" of parental care and this could encourage new ways for culture changes. This is positive news for the fathers who wish to be more involved, especially in the early years.
There are plans under way which are out with public consultation groups were the government intends to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees from April 2014 and then introduce a shared parental leave system from April 2015.
She is promoting such changes to organisations who, hopefully will begin to see the benefits of flexible talent and remove the barriers which are today really holding so many parents back.
Posted in Flexible working
Women feel pressure with rise in UK unemployment
Posted on April 18, 2013 by allmumkind | Comments (0)
Women choosing to stay at home with their families has decreased by nearly 50,000 as they more parents feel the pressure to return to work due to financial strain.
Interestingly, the unemployment figure for the UK between December and February hit its worst figure of 2.56m since 2011, this was also the highest peak the figures have seen as "stay-at-home-mums" felt the pressure to find work during this period.
The dramatic increase in figures published by the Office for National Statistics identified that it was almost entirely populated by women re-entering the labour market and being "unemployed" compared to the previous classification as "economically inactive".
The recent announcement of pension changes has seen over 30,000 women deciding not to retire and forcing many more to rethink retirement and start looking for work.
Part-time employment rose to over 20,000 and interestingly, no all occupied by parents as a high proportion of individuals being unable to seek full-time employment, opt for part-time work.
Posted in Flexible working
UK trails Europeans in flexibility and parental leave
Posted on April 11, 2013 by allmumkind | Comments (0)
So why is our nation falling behind in supporting families in the workplace?
It has been pointed out that our access to affordable childcare and flexible working is just not good enough and makes returning to the workplace simply not desirable.
Our modern society in which we live, you would think, would make it more straight forward compared to decades ago to return to the workplace with our growing technology and modern culture values. Britain has now fallen behind our European neighbours as we have failed to capitalise on these opportunities.
During the 1990's, the number of women working was way ahead of our competitors, Germany and the Dutch - where we had affordable childcare and more flexible work. Unfortunately, we fell behind during the Labour decade and Germany and the Dutch overtook us as they continued to invest and participate in innovating support with more flexible opportunities, better childcare support and balanced parental arrangements. Britain began to fall behind with outdated labour regulations and commercial appetite.
What we have failed to invest in, is the continual moving with modern times and the priority to adapt flexibility within the workplace. Our business's cultures will continue to take time to catch up with childcare support and flexible working for both parents.
Helping parents to get into work and particularly enabling mothers to maintain skills will have a positive impact both on families and the country's finances. There are many good examples we can adopt from other countries who have reduced the barriers and increased participation. Although Britain is late to the game, there is no reason why we can't reform working practices, childcare provision and parental leave to the benefit of all. This should be a priority for the remainder of this parliamentary term. Then we can see a real rise in the participation of women in work.
Posted in Flexible working
Employer - employee discrepancy with flexible working
Posted on February 27, 2013 by allmumkind | Comments (0)
We are hearing on a regular basis that businesses are embracing flexible working in their culture, but are they really?
New research has revealed that there is still an employer - employee discrepancy in companies where flexibility really isn't being embraced.
O2 carried out research and have found that from the businesses studied, 80% of employers insist that flexibility is being enforced but a staggering 20% of the workforce can only agree.
Employees are demonstrating their eagerness for working differently, but this is being disrupted by their companies who are not acting fast enough once they have committed to a flexible working culture.
Workforces questioned feel that productivity would increase if they could work different patterns and that flexible working is more important nowadays than holidays and pay. Company bosses are failing to react to this.
Ben Dowd, business director at O2, said such data is "shocking".
"Businesses must sit up and take notice of this critical evolution in employee behaviour and create a business culture equipped to support it," he added.
Posted in Flexible working
Dad's wish to reduce hours at work to spend more time with children
Posted on January 14, 2013 by allmumkind | Comments (0)
Recent research has found than more and more dad's would like to reduce their working hours to spend more time with their children.
Family life is becoming more of a priority over careers amongst more fathers these days than ever.
Dad's wanting part-time hours has been identified during the creation of the report "The Rise of Part-time Dads". The majority of men with kids - nearly 60% who work full-time hours are more and more keen to stay at home as they are missing out due to increasing hours demanded from office jobs.
Although there is an increased appetite for more dads to switch to part-time hours many do admit that they would be concerned over the perceived social stigma that is attached. This is nearly 70% of the dad's interviewed. Another concern would be being seen as secondary when it comes to earning potential.
This study was carried out by Office Angels to see how the Government's approaching changes to parental leave will affect both mothers and fathers. The Operations Director, Angela Smith goes on to say, "It's no longer unusual for the woman to be the highest earning partner in a relationship and against this backdrop, a new trend has emerged: that of the part-time dads, who take a greater role in the upbringing of their children … work-life balance is increasingly a subject that weighs heavy on dads' minds," she noted.
Posted in Flexible working
Economy may be slow but part-time work on the increase..
Posted on November 15, 2012 by allmumkind | Comments (1)
Although we have news that the economy won't properly recover for at least three more years, there is a positive outcome in that part-time jobs are actually on the increase.
Unfortunately for full-time workers a recent study by the Bank of England found that on average they are working slightly longer hours compared to 4 years ago. This isn't surprising with the jobs losses and businesses needing more output with costs being cuts.
A Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research comments “Overall, economic performance has been pretty dismal. There’s been little growth for two years but the labour market has responded to that very well. We’ve seen employers push through a reduction in hours and wages decreased. That’s unpleasant for many individuals but are we better off as a society? Yes.”
Interestingly, a new trend has been identified in that part-time employment has increased during the three months to September, by nearly 50,000, which is a record high, taking the part-time market to 8.1m. Within this figure, almost 1.5m people took the offer of part-time work because they simply couldn't find full-time employment. The main reason for this is driven by employers not wanting to add to their cost base as they are cautious of over committing and therefore, jobs are offered as part-time.
There is evidence that businesses are in fact becoming more 'flexible' by offering more skilled and professional jobs on a part-time basis including, job-shares, home-working etc as employers see this as adding value to their organisations. Great news for professionals seeking a better work-life balance.
Posted in Flexible working
Governments extension of flexible working is good for business
Posted on November 12, 2012 by allmumkind | Comments (0)
Flexible working rights has been extended to all employees by the government, after their findings which suggest both employers and employees will benefit.
The shift in decision has been openly welcomed the Chief Executive of the CIPD who is amongst one of the many organisations who strongly support the move.
It is evident there appears to be a positive change towards flexible working of which employers can actually benefit from. During the current economic climate it is important businesses retain, motivate and demonstrate a more diverse workforce which are certainly supported through flexible working.
Flexible working is always important to working mothers, however it does span widely across the whole workforce reaching universally. Businesses can certainly receive commitment and loyalty from their workforce by adopting the policy. Understandably, some businesses may take more time to adopt and influence their culture with the new working policies, but small businesses should instantly enjoy multiple benefits almost immediately.
Posted in Flexible working