No Flexibility to Working Moms despite Regulations
In a surprising survey result, it has come to light that working mothers have to grin and bear it when it comes to employer’s flexibility around childcare. There is no policy in place nor is there any flexibility when it comes to requests that centre around family well being or children under the age of 16.
Though regulations came in last year to make childcare and flexible working hours a statutory right, working mothers are yet to see any benefit. Requests to do so are met with rebuttal and sometimes the employees are simply told not to consider even putting in a request. It was abundantly clear by a survey that working moms were not even considered on par for any promotions or salary hikes.
Simply Hired conducted a survey and the results on simplyhired.co.uk poll are easy to interpret. Respondents are highly disappointed with employer’s utter disregard for employee family support and wellbeing and feel that working mothers bear the brunt of it all. Sachin Shah, the Director of International at Simply Hired comments that while companies project themselves as considerate about families and flexible about working hours during crucial years of care, it is just a publicity stunt to grab the right talent. Once the hiring is complete, all such policies are gone with the wind. He also advises that potential employees should find out more about their prospective employers opinions and practices about flexible family approach.
The survey results are clear and throw sufficient light on the ambiguous policies of employers. 36% of respondents describe their company as family-friendly and 73% feel that their company is not. 48% of respondents clearly reported that their companies did not allow working from home and 30% opined that their companies plainly refused special requests to accommodate work hour flexibility with reference to childcare. 16% rated their employer flexible while 28% rated their employer somewhat flexible.
It remains to be seen when the regulations will be complied with if at all they are complied with. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development is the professional body for those involved in the management and development of people; Workplace Law Training is approved to offer programmes that meet the standards for Associate membership of the CIPD. Contact the experts there to find out about the range of accredited CIPD courses, which will provide a firm foundation in all the areas of HR and employment law.
