A Flexible Working Bill seeking to demand all jobs be advertised as flexible from day one of employment, was approved to go to a second reading on 17 July – prompting delight amongst parents, people with disabilities and family carers.
Campaigners back Flexible Working Bill which aims to help parents, people with disabilities and others. Credit: jannoon028 / Shutterstock
Helen Whately, Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent used the 10 Minute Rule on 16 July to introduce the Bill to parliament which aims to make all jobs flexible by default.
She said the Bill was intended to require bosses to offer flexible working in employment contracts and advertise job vacancies as suitable for flexible working.
The MP said some 87 per cent of employees would like to work flexibly, but just 9.8 per cent of jobs paying over £20,000 are advertised as flexible.
‘Flexible working is good for business, the economy and work-life balance. It must be offered as standard, not haggled for later down the line’ she wrote in an opinion piece penned for Politics Home.
She raised the problem of too many women reluctantly dropping out of work or going part-time after having children because their employers won’t allow them flexibility.
'How many part-time jobs could be full-time flexible jobs?'
The MP argued men don’t get to spend as much time as they might like with their children, while women miss out on career opportunities. The stigma around men requesting flexible working can also be a problem because of the ‘old-fashioned idea’ that caring for children is a woman’s job.
Some 42 per cent of women are working part-time compared to 13 per cent of men. Working less hours than men and getting less experience during their careers is a main reason why women earn less and are under-represented in senior posts.
She told MPs “How many of those part-time jobs could actually be full-time, flexible jobs?” Flexible working need not just mean part-time but can include flexi hours, home working, compressed hours and job share.
She also told MPs the Bill could help many other people such as those with disabilities.
The Conservative MP believes remote working can cut down the average daily commute of 46 minutes a day and maximise productivity time. With technology and superfast broadband coverage set to reach 97 per cent by 2020, the MP argues it’s now possible to do many jobs from anywhere at any time.
Late for nursery
Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent Helen Whateley introduces the Bill. Credit: Parliament TV
Introducing the Bill on 16 July, Helen Whately told MPs “Anna Whitehouse was on her way to pick up her daughter from nursery, but a bag got stuck in a tube door and made her 12 minutes late.
“The nursery staff sat her down in one of those tiny children’s chairs and sternly told her that she would be charged £1 for every minute she had kept the staff waiting.
“She resolved not to let something as trivial as a bag stuck in a door upset the delicate balance of her work and family life again, so she asked her employer whether she could come to work 15 minutes early and leave 15 minutes early.
“That tiny change would have made juggling her career and her children work, but the request was denied. So she quit. For the sake of just 15 minutes, Anna left a job she loved, and her boss lost a dedicated member of staff.”
Every year, 54,000 pregnant women and working mothers are made redundant or are pressured to leave their jobs. Closing the gender employment gap could add an extra £150 billion to the country’s GDP by 2025.
Anna Whitehouse, whose case was highlighted in Westminster, is a journalist who founded ‘Mother Pukka’ a parents’ portal offering news and comment. Anna Whitehouse said: “We have been campaigning over five years for effective flexible working and today it seems the tide is turning.
“It feels like the Government is listening, businesses are listening and that the people are being listened to!
“Flexible working is simply for people wanting to live and often those with responsibilities beyond their control. Those people who want to get off the 9-5 hamster wheel, those who want to work the odd day from home, those living with disabilities, those with medical conditions, those with caring responsibilities – the list goes on.”
Disabled people ‘too often shut out of work’
Mark Hodgkinson, chief executive at disability equality charity Scope, said: “We know that half of disabled people feel excluded from society and are too often shut out of work. Life also costs more if you are disabled, and Scope research shows that these costs add up to on average £583 a month.”
Forty-seven per cent of fathers say that they would consider a demotion to a less stressful job if it enabled them to spend more time with their families. But loss of productivity could be prevented if more men could work flexibly.
Research by Pregnant Then Screwed revealed 81 per cent of people who work flexibly are happier. Happier staff with a better work-life balance can be more productive and more likely to stay in their job.
Campaign groups Fatherhood Institute, Pregnant then Screwed, Mother Pukka and Fawcett Society joined forces to create the Flex For All campaign. #FlexAppeal #FlexForAll campaign.
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