25 November 2005
Men
and women's lives are becoming more alike
Equal Opportunities Commission, 23 November 2005
New polling by ICM Research for the EOC shows that 62% are concerned about
spending enough time with their family and 69% say that women and men's lives
are becoming more alike in their struggle to balance work and home.
Printing
sector launches UK's first partnering at work agreement
People Management, 24 November 2005
The UK's first industry-wide Partnership at Work Agreement and Code of Practice
has been launched in the printing sector covering a number of areas, including
flexible working, sick pay, information and consultation and training.
Dads
think time off for babies is bad for their careers
Personnel Today, 24 November 2005
A survey by manufacturer SMA Nutrition of 545 men and 1,000 women, has found
that men and women struggle to balance work and home life after the birth of
a child with many working fathers believing that spending more time with their
baby is a career killer and not financially viable.
18 November 2005
Tribunal
victory establishes employers must provide a robust defence for
unequal pay
Equal Opportunities Commission, 11 November 2005
A case supported by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC)
has established that where companies are paying men and women differently
for equal work they must always provide a robust defence,
in legal terms, an "objective justification", for their actions.
People
want flexible working, but most can't get it, says TUC
TUC, 17 November 2005
Almost one in ten employees in the UK (2.3 million people)
would like to work fewer hours, even if this meant taking home less
money each month, according to a report published by the TUC. However,
more than half a million workers who have asked for a shorter working
week have had their requests turned down by their employers
Employers
rejecting new fathers' requests for paternity leave
Citizens Advice, 17 November 2005
A report by Citizens Advice, entitled Hard Labour, has
found many fathers are losing their right to paid paternity leave because
they do not realise they have to request it 15 weeks in advance. Citizens
Advice has called for the government to reduce the notice period.
Slow start for flexible working
Financial Times News Digest, 18 November 2005
Flexible working has not taken off in the public sector despite
high demand and the technology to adopt it, according to research by
YouGov, the online pollster for NTL Business
Providers fear
unfair competition on childcare
Financial Times, 9 November 2005
Private nursery providers have warned that the government must go further to
protect childcare businesses from unfair competition from local authorities
if it is to achieve its goal of helping more parents back to work, according
to Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association.
For more information, see the National
Day Nurseries Association website..
Women
shun nine-to-five working
People Management, 4 November 2005
Looking for flexibility in their careers, a survey of 1,000 workers and 500
employers by HR consultancy Hudson has found that a quarter of female professionals
expect to be working part-time in five years and 14 per cent want to run their
own business.
Workers
in London to work their proper hours on Friday 24 February 2006
TUC, 3 November 2005
SERTUC, the regional TUC for London, has announced 'Work Your Proper Hours
Day' 2006, when people who work overtime are encouraged to work their proper
hours to remind employers how much they rely on the goodwill and voluntary
extra work of their staff. For more information, see the Work
your proper hours day website
The couples too busy to talk
anymore
The Daily Telegraph. Friday
28 Oct
Research, The Home Report, for the At Home Society,
has found that working long hours means only a quarter of British couples
get home early enough in the evening to see their partner twice a week.
Smart bosses see its time
to change
Mail on Sunday. 30 October 2005
Research conducted for Working Families, a charity which
aims to improve work-life balance, has found a link between flexible
working and increased productivity and financial gains.
We’ll binge work to get time off
Metro. 31 October 2005
A study of 1,000 workers by Standard Life Bank and the Future Laboratory has
found that more people would indulge in ‘binge working’ in return
for an equal amount of time off.
