The Work and Families Bill, aimed at promoting rights for working parents, was given a second reading. It contained powers to extend entitlement to statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance from six months to a maximum of one year; and created a new right for fathers to take up to 26 weeks additional paternity leave, if the mother had returned to work before her maternity leave had expired.
Source: Work and Families Bill, Department of Trade and Industry, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 5 December 2005, columns 643-708, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | EOC briefing
Date: 2005-Dec
A trade union report said that over three-quarters of employees (77.4 per cent) had no element of flexibility in their employment contracts. It called for employers to do more to introduce changed ways of working that suited companies and individuals alike.
Source: Challenging Times: Flexibility and flexible working in the UK, Trades Union Congress (020 7467 1294)
Links: Report | TUC press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Nov
A report said that many new fathers were being refused their right to two weeks paid paternity leave, simply because they had not given their employer the 15 weeks notice required to take the time off.
Source: Hard Labour: Making maternity and paternity rights at work a reality for all, Citizens Advice (020 7833 2181)
Links: Report | Citizens Advice press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Nov
The government published the Work and Families Bill (following consultation), aimed at promoting rights for working parents. Proposed measures included extending statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance to nine months from April 2007 - with the ambition of moving to a year by the end of the Parliament (including extending eligibility for additional maternity leave); a power to introduce new paternity leave for fathers, enabling them to benefit from leave and statutory pay if the mother returned to work after six months but before the end of her maternity leave period; and extending the right to request flexible working to carers from April 2007.
Source: Work and Families Bill, Department of Trade and Industry, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Response to consultation (pdf) | DTI press release | EOC press release | CBI press release | CIPD press release | TUC press release | Work Foundation press release | OPF press release | Daycare Trust press release
Date: 2005-Oct
A report examined the extent to which small service sector businesses used flexible working arrangements to attract and retain employees. The preference of small firms was for informality: but there was some evidence to suggest that the value of formal processes was increasingly being recognized, as a means of demonstrating fairness and consistency of treatment.
Source: Lynette Harris and Carley Foster, 'Small, Flexible and Family Friendly': Work practices in service sector businesses, Employment Relations Research Series 47, Department of Trade and Industry (020 7215 5177)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
A think-tank report said that extending unpaid paternity leave would not result in a step change in the number of fathers spending more time with their children, and would further advantage wealthier families. It recommended instead increasing paternity leave pay from 106 per week to 90 per cent of earnings, and extending the period of paid leave from 2 to 4 weeks.
Source: Kate Stanley (ed.), Daddy Dearest?: Active fatherhood and public policy, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: IPPR press release
Date: 2005-Oct
A report indicated an increase in the number of employers reporting a negative impact from family-friendly employment laws.
Source: People Driving Performance: Employment trends survey 2005, Confederation of British Industry (020 7395 8247) and Pertemps
Links: CBI press release | CIPD press release
Date: 2005-Sep
An article described the employment patterns of families with dependent children, using results from the spring 2004 Labour Force Survey. In spring 2004 there were 7.3 million working-age families with dependent children, of which 5.5 million were headed by a married or cohabiting couple and 1.9 million were headed by a lone parent. The majority of working-age families had at least one parent in employment (84 per cent).
Source: Annette Walling, 'Families and work', Labour Market Trends, July 2005, Office for National Statistics, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Article (pdf) | ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jul
A report reviewed family-friendly policies in the United Kingdom (along with Canada, Finland and Sweden) and made recommendations to further ensure the well-being of parents and children. It urged the United Kingdom to create more, and more affordable, childcare to help parents juggle work and family commitments.
Source: Babies and Bosses: Reconciling work and family life, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (+33 1 4524 8200)
Links: OECD press release
Date: 2005-May
The government announced plans (in the Queen's speech) for a Parental Rights Bill. The Bill would extend maternity pay and workplace rights for parents. Mothers would be able to transfer some elements of their statutory rights to their partner: but the Equal Opportunities Commission said that this risked reinforcing stereotypical sex roles.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 17 May 2005, columns 29-31, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Equality And Diversity: Updating the Sex Discrimination Act, Equal Opportunities Commission (0161 833 9244)
Links: Hansard | EOC Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-May
Research found a recent decline in sickness absence, and said that flexible working was the most effective way to reduce absence levels.
Source: In Sickness and in Health: A report on absenteeism and work-life balance, Working Families (020 7253 7243)
Links: Report (pdf) | Working Families press release (Word file)
Date: 2005-Apr
A new book summarized recent research into employment flexibility, and the effects of gender and care responsibilities on work and work performance. The conflicting needs of employers and employees, and the gender divisions in work and family life, called into question the feasibility of achieving the government's aim of work-life balance for everyone.
Source: Diane Houston (ed.), Work-Life Balance in the 21st Century, Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Links: Summary
Date: 2005-Apr
A report said that many parents were unhappy with their work-life balance. A majority reported that work dominated their lives, and family life suffered as a result. Working long hours also led to increased levels of stress, resulting in irritability, exhaustion and depression.
Source: Cary Cooper and Jonathan Swan, Time, Health and the Family: What working families want, Working Families (020 7253 7243)
Links: Report (pdf) | EFWLB press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Mar
A series of articles examined the impact on children of maternity leave and mothers' early returns to work - in terms of health, infant mortality, development outcomes, and early learning.
Source: Economic Journal, February 2005, Royal Economic Society (0117 983 9770)
Links: Articles (links)
Date: 2005-Feb
The government began consultation on proposals to extend maternity pay and adoption pay from six months to nine months by April 2007, with the goal of a year's paid leave by the end of the following Parliament; introduce a new right for mothers to transfer a proportion of their maternity leave and pay to fathers; and extend the right to request flexible working hours to carers of adults and parents of older children.
Source: Work and Families: Choice and flexibility, Department of Trade and Industry (0870 150 2500) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 28 February 2005, columns 74-76WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Hansard | DTI press release | TUC press release | CIPD press release | IOD press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Feb
A report said that 84 per cent of employers believed that flexible working practices had a positive effect on retention. Over half felt that recruitment had benefited from such practices, and 70 per cent believed that they had a positive impact on motivation.
Source: Flexible Working: Impact and implementation, Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (020 8971 9000)
Links: Report (pdf) | CIPD press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Feb
A report by a committee of MPs recommended that 'family friendly' sitting hours (with more business than previously being done during the mornings, and less in the evenings) should be made permanent. MPs voted to return to a 10pm finish on Wednesdays, and make Thursday sessions start earlier.
Source: Sitting Hours, First Report (Session 2004-05), HC 88, House of Commons Modernisation Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 26 January 2005, columns 327-386, TSO
Links: Report | Hansard | NPN press release | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Jan
A booklet outlined the body of evidence showing how companies reported business benefits from the flexible working practices they had introduced.
Source: Work-life Balance and Flexible Working: The business case, Department of Trade and Industry (0870 150 2500)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jan