Interesting article on the BBC today.
"Workplace policies have not kept up with the social changes in people's everyday lives," according to Maria Miller, Chair of the Commons Women and Equalities Committee.
Couldn't agree more... could you?
Interesting article on the BBC today.
"Workplace policies have not kept up with the social changes in people's everyday lives," according to Maria Miller, Chair of the Commons Women and Equalities Committee.
Couldn't agree more... could you?
Again, Meg, I'm not sure we need be that surprised. Changing legislation is one thing, changing attitudes is quite another. It is quite possible (if not almost certain) that the apparent lack of desire of male colleagues to participate in the early weeks of childhood is no more than the long-standing failure of society as a whole to assimilate men into that chaotic, emotional, life-changing, rewarding, frustrating, wonderful, and sometimes downright terrifying, time!
When a creature raised in captivity is released into the wild it often refuses to move from its cage, not from any desire to stay penned, but because it is bewildered and confused by to open field or sky before it.....
I remember well the lonely feeling of being the only man who turned up for anti-natal classes with his wife (a radical new option 39 years ago) and the thinly veiled hostility of some of the other women present (until it was mentioned that I was at the time also an Ambulanceman). Today the exception is more likely to be the partner who refuses.
Give male workers (and their employers) a while to get used to the idea of FW (four years so far) and ShPL being the norm' and we will catch up. :-)
There are also still (female) HR managers around who, in spite of FW being agreed by a company's operational managers, will block FW applications on the grounds that "the mother" should be taking time off to arrange child-care and a man being granted the right will "open the floodgates" of other applications.
So the whole issue of incorporation of both male-parental and wider FW rights remains a "work in progress" with a long way to go and a lot of learning to do!
P
Hi Julie,
A whole other thread perhaps but how do you increase the rights and flexibility of one group without affecting the work life balance of another?
This CIPD report from 2013 says...
If flexible working options are transparent and open to everyone in ways that make sense to the business, there will be less resentment about perceived favouritism for groups such as young parents with childcare responsibilities.
But yes... definitely something orgs needs to factor in... but tricky to forward plan. Particularly difficult for smaller businesses... although maybe a mindset change needed to see this issue as partly about managing flexible teams successfully?
Maybe something for the new Flexible Working Taskforce to consider (co-chaired by CIPD's Peter Cheese) which met for the first time last week.
Hi Julie,
A whole other thread perhaps but how do you increase the rights and flexibility of one group without affecting the work life balance of another?
This CIPD report from 2013 says...
If flexible working options are transparent and open to everyone in ways that make sense to the business, there will be less resentment about perceived favouritism for groups such as young parents with childcare responsibilities.
But yes... definitely something orgs needs to factor in... but tricky to forward plan. Particularly difficult for smaller businesses... although maybe a mindset change needed to see this issue as partly about managing flexible teams successfully?
Maybe something for the new Flexible Working Taskforce to consider (co-chaired by CIPD's Peter Cheese) which met for the first time last week.
