Despite employment law, some firms ‘are not family-friendly’

Posted 30/03/2010

Many UK employers may not be meeting their obligations to support families under current employment law.

This is the suggestion of new research carried out by SimplyHired.co.uk, which found that 73 per cent of respondents do not think their firm is family-friendly enough in terms of the flexibility it offers.

Some 48 per cent said they cannot work from home even in an emergency and 30 per cent reported feeling discouraged about making flexible working requests to cover childcare, even though employment law exists to make this a right for all people with a child under 16.

Many respondents to the poll also appear to think that sex discrimination is going on in their workplace, with 58 per cent believing that working mothers are unfairly treated with regard to pay and promotion potential.

Sachin Shah of SimplyHired.co.uk urged employees to check what benefits they are entitled to under employment law in order to avoid missing out or becoming the victim of discrimination.

“Businesses increasingly want to be seen as family-friendly … but this survey shows many companies still have a long way to go to support workers with families,” he added.

Currently, all employees have the right to request flexible working arrangements, although managers may refuse permission depending on circumstances.