If you follow us on Instagram you may have seen our recent post about flexible working for fathers and how little flexibility is available to them. Here's what you need to know;
A survey conducted by Working Dads and Working Mums, of over 3,000 people, has provided insight in to the difficulties of flexible working from a Father’s perspective.
The results were staggering.
2 in every 5 flexible working requests that were submitted by fathers were declined.
When a request was approved, many Fathers were left feeling unsupported and 1 in 5 say they felt discriminated against by their colleagues and management.
The shortage in availability of genuine flexible working for dads also comes at a cost to businesses. Not only taking its toll on employee engagement but also talent retention.
1 in 10 dads had resigned from a position following refusal of a flexible working application.
Furthermore, 7 in 10 dads said they felt stuck in their current job as they were concerned there would be difficulty in finding another job with a degree of flexibility. That is a huge 69% of working fathers.
Flexible working is open to all eligible employees with over 26 weeks service, regardless of whether they are a mum or dad or if they are a nan, granddad, uncle, aunt, carer, married, single, with children, without children. Whatever the personal circumstance, serious consideration is imperative for all flexible working applications received.
Requests should only be declined under one of the 8 legitimate business reasons and only after full consideration has been given to the request, all available options, trial periods and alternatives.
Many people are now questioning the 1950’s style 9-5 job, with the aim of achieving a good work life balance at the forefront of an employee’s mind.
Providing a degree of flexibility where possible will go a long way in engaging your employee and recognising their value.
In turn, businesses will benefit from higher levels of talent retention, productivity and engagement.
After all a business most valuable asset is their people.