In the Queen’s speech in December 2019, the government announced they would be consulting on agreement to flexible working becoming the default option for all employees. It seems this is partly in response to the prevalence of ‘always on’ cultures in many organisations. According to recent research by Working Families and Bright Horizons, presenteeism undermines the ability of working parents to create a balance between work and home life. Jane van Zyl, CEO of Working Families said, “Requiring employers to be proactive about offering flexible and part-time roles could be a catalyst for better job design.”
Their research, 2020 Modern Families Index, also found that:
- Nearly half of parents (47%) said that work restricts their ability to spend time reading or playing with their children.
- 48% said it affects their relationship with their partner
- 28% said it led to arguments with their children.
- 47% of respondents felt that the boundaries between work and home had become too blurred by technology.
James Tugendhat, Managing Director, International at Bright Horizons, said, “parents trying to juggle work and family commitments are getting a raw deal. The UK’s part-time stigma and long-hours culture renders them exhausted, stressed and unable to climb the career ladder. This applies especially to mothers.”
Poor job design and the culture of presenteeism forces parents to work extra hours, with more than three-quarters working beyond their contracted hours. Flexible working is in great demand amongst working parents, with 86% wanting to work flexibly but only 49% of those surveyed doing so. While the majority (55 per cent) of working parents reported being allowed to work from home and flexibly, 48 per cent said that this actually increased their workload. As a result, 44 per cent felt compelled to work from home during evenings.
The report states that “For more than a third (37%) of parents, flexible working isn’t available in their workplaces, despite all employees having the statutory right to request flexible working arrangements.”
The government apparently has good intentions in suggesting that working flexibly should be the norm, the default option. However, I wonder how realistic it is to expect this approach to be widely adopted in the UK, when such large numbers currently don’t have that option despite the “Right to Request” legislation being enacted in 2003?
What’s your view of flexible working in organisations you’re familiar with? Is the legal right to request flexible working embedded in a way that makes it easy to apply? Do managers acknowledge that there is such a policy, but deny all requests whatever the circumstances? I’d love to hear about your own experiences, so please comment below
