One in three parents has left a job due to ‘outdated’ lack of flexible working
Unions have warned that a lack of flexible working arrangements is forcing parents to lay off jobs.
New research from the TUC, which surveyed 500 parents of children under seven, found a third had left their jobs due to a lack of flexible working.
A similar number of respondents said their informal requests for flexible working were partially or completely rejected.
Three in four respondents said they would be more likely to apply for a job that included flexible working.
Almost one in five admitted they did not know they had the legal right to request flexible working.
The TUC said the survey showed flexible working was still “stigmatized”, with high rates of rejection and negative treatment of gig workers.
The union body says the high rejection rate and poor treatment of flexible working requests shows the Government is right to take action to make flexible working the default under the Employment Rights Act.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “As many parents return to work after the half term break, anyone with children knows that being able to work flexibly is not a privilege – it is a lifeline for working families.
“But the reality is that many parents are still left out of the labor market due to rigid and outdated attitudes in the workplace.
“Improving access to flexible working benefits workers, businesses and the economy, whether through increased staff productivity or greater retention.
“That’s why the Government is right to want to make flexible working the default through the Employment Rights Act, but ministers need to go further.
“It is time we saw a legal duty on employers to advertise possible flexibility in roles to suit employees’ lives.”
