In flexible working cases, indirect sex discrimination occurs when: When deciding whether indirect sex discrimination has taken place, tribunals look at the individual circumstances of each case. Flexible working: 'A system set up for women to fail' 2011). Similarly, the relationship between working location (even if we just focus on 'working at home') and autonomy is very complicated. M&S To Offer Flexible Working Options For 'Better Work-Life Balance For more information on appealing a refusal of a flexible working request, see our article on what to do if your flexible working request is refused. PWC loses flexible working discrimination case - Employee Benefits How Decision Inequality Sets Flexible Work Up To Fail See our section onstarting a claimfor further information and beware oftime limits. Flexible Working | Equality, Diversity and Inclusion | StaffNet | The An employer can justify the requirement or practice if it is a real business need, and the employer could not achieve the need by less discriminatory means. Here are several jobs you may consider for a flexible career: Sales representative Graphic designer Management consultant Photographer Freelance Writer Sales representative National average salary: $59,831 per year Primary duties: Sales representatives sell products directly to other companies or consumers. It may be that in the future we will see requirements for ethnicity pay gap reporting, given some large businesses are required to . The CIPD is warning of the risks of potentially creating a two-tier workforce after its analysis of official data found the use of different flexible working arrangements is unequal across the UK with some areas exposed as 'flexible working notspots'. If your request for flexible working is refused, or your employer treats you unfairly in relation to your request, you may also experience unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act. If you are not a solicitor, you are advised to obtain specific legal advice about your case or matter and not to rely solely on this information. Contracted hours dipped in early lockdown, but by October they had recovered. 5. are a carer (under the Carer Recognition Act 2010) have a disability. You can find more information in our article ongrievances. Flexible working - what is it - Citizens Advice Proving discrimination claims can be difficult: the discrimination is rarely made explicit. Firstly, they decide whether you have provided sufficient proof that an act of unlawful discrimination has taken place. If the discussions with your employer dont resolve the issue, or you think your employer has treated you very unfairly and the relationship is breaking down, you can consider raising a grievance. Printable PDF. Flexible working - discrimination - Citizens Advice Flexible working arrangements might include: changing from full-time to part-time work. She believes that leaders need to open their eyes to the tremendous people out there by working with staff, trainers, and speakers who could give a perspective you havent even considered yet. The person you are associated with (e.g., your child or dependant) needs to meet the definition of disabled under the Equality Act. Full article: University staff and flexible work: inequalities It analyzes (1) how schedule control, i.e. Rising Income Inequality and the Future of Work in Digital Platforms If this is the case, please get specialist advice. The flexible work arrangement of the app-based rideshare platforms seems to encourage more people to sign up for driving, including parents, students and retirees who want an adjustable schedule or supplementary income. The article through UN reports and studies, stated that "women comprise 60% of the world's working poor, and that only about half of them participate in the labor force. This is the eighth year of the Women in the Workplace report. At HubbleHQ, we found a 147% search increase for onsite office childcare facilities between 2018 and 2019, with only 1.1% of office spaces able to meet this demand. If you are unhappy with the outcome of your grievance, you should normally be able to appeal it; the procedure will be set out in your employers grievance policy. The mass shift to flexible working that accompanied the Covid-19 pandemic has proved to skeptical bosses everywhere that the concept reallycanwork. Flexible work | WGEA 1079797, Cost-of-living crisis: Help for employees, Getting, developing and keeping the right people, HR-inform: practical HR and employment law resources, Building the best HR teams around the world, Championing better work and working lives, 'Employers must do more to address flexible working inequality' says CIPD, as new analysis highlights 'flexible working notspots' across the UK, Informal flexibility (how start/end time is determined, ability to take a couple of hours off during the working day to deal with personal matters, able to take leave at short notice, frequency of unforeseen work demands or available for work in free time). Flexible working: seven ways for HR to make the business case Help shape its future, Leading the profession thats shaping the future of work, CIPD analysis of official data ranks UK nations and regions by use of flexible working arrangements. For example, between 2005 and 2014 European companies had 14% women in their boards and this percentage rose to 24% since 2014. For the majority of workers in this category, this means working more than 50 hours per week. By Robert Crawford 1st November 2014 12:00 am. These forms of discrimination occur when someone is treated less favourably than someone else because of being associated with a person (e.g., a child or dependant) with a disability. Law and guidance is changing regularly in this area. Flexible Working, Work-Life Balance, and Gender - SpringerLink Stand up against violent and inappropriate behavior Every employee should feel safe when they're at work no ifs or buts. There are just so many other factors to take into account. Lower skilled roles (which are harder to do from home) exist in areas such as Yorkshire and Humber, where workers appear to have very little flexibility at all. How flexible working can help close the gender pay gap The most popular forms of flexible working in the survey were part-time hours and flexitime, whereas more radical forms of flexible working, such as mobile working, full-time homeworking and job sharing, were used by less than 2% of participants. Dont worry we wont send you spam or share your email address with anyone. British retailer Marks & Spencer has announced plans to launch Worklife, a new flexible working offering, as it seeks to create a better work-life balance for its . Key Points. You may opt-out by. Flexible working practices and job-related anxiety: Examining the roles So, it seems unlikely that allowing/encouraging more homeworking would simplistically improve work-related well-being indirectly by increasing autonomy. The present study investigates the effects of flexible working-time arrangements on cognitive work-to-home spillover for women and men in Germany. The analysis found that workers in South East England have the best flexible working options, followed by the East of England, while workers in the Yorkshire and Humber are least likely to have flexibility in their role. Possibly most relevant to those with parenting and caring responsibilities are direct and indirect associative disability discrimination. Introduction to the Special Issue | Find, read and cite all the . Finally, working women may now get higher salaries than in . Then, the burden of proof will shift to your employer to provide a non-discriminatory explanation for their actions. Copyright The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development 2022. Nearly one in five women (18.2 percent) and nearly one in three men (31.8 percent) usually work more than 40 hours per week. But parents and carers who have their flexible working request refused may experience discrimination on the basis of sex, disability and marriage. What to do if you witness racial inequality at work Speak to your employer in the first instance and try to resolve things informally. Please call our helplinefor more details. flexible working benefits. Her employer could not objectively justify the requirement, so the tribunal upheld the claim of indirect associative disability discrimination. Women in the Workplace | McKinsey Each major category was given equal weighting and percentages were then compared to allow for ranking. how work is managed in the workplace to help employees and businesses. Case examplesIna case called Dobson v North Cumbria, an employer had a policy requiring employees, including Mrs Dobson, to work weekends as and when required by the employer. Working parents, flexibility and job quality: What are the trade-offs? From this perspective, flexible employment practices are seen to promote isolation, job insecurity, gender inequality, reduced career prospects, longer working hours and work-life imbalance among the workforce ( Bone, 2006; Whittle and Mueller, 2009 ). When faced with deadlines or a stressful time at work, staying positive can help keep your team members motivated. People, policies and businesses respond to data. The Employment Appeal Tribunal confirmed that women are more likely to find it difficult to work certain hours (for example, nights and weekends) or changeable hours (where the changes are dictated by the employer) than men because of childcare responsibilities. In other words, women make 76 cents for every dollar men earn for performing the same task. self-scheduling of shift work (n = 4), flexitime (n = 1) and overtime (n = 1). Recognize that tackling inequality is not the role of one, it's the . Step 5: Monitoring progress and evaluating a Gender Equality Plan. This can allow parents to perform necessary tasks, like dropping off and picking up kids, while succeeding in their professional role at the same time. GEAR step-by-step guide for research funding bodies. Currently, employees must have worked for an employer for at least 26 weeks to be eligible. The CIPD analysed Labour Force Survey (LFS) data from October-December 2020 (74,832 cases) and APS (LFS ad-hoc module) from January-December 2019 (277, 115 cases) to create a rank of regions that have the most and least flexible working options. This advice applies to England. Find a study centre that offers your preferred CIPD qualification and study mode, Learn about the knowledge and behaviours needed to work in the people profession, Get a 10% discount for a limited time on our courses, Boost your employer brand and attract and retain the best talent by becoming a CIPD People Development Partner, Get an internationally recognised qualification, All you need to know about being a CIPD student as well as access to a wide range of resources, Browse and purchase our range of textbooks, toolkits and e-books, The essential companion for busy HR professionals, Gain insight on issues that matter to HR and L&D, Access resources to support your response to the pandemic, Our profession plays an important role in ensuring work benefits everyone. Flexible working: Overview - GOV.UK However, by October, overtime working had increased 32% compared to pre-lockdown levels. It will also help organisations to foster more diverse and inclusive workplaces and can improve wellbeing and productivity. Job opportunities, roles, responsibilities and remunerations should be based on merit and not on race or gender, Mutale recommends. Employers should think creatively about the flexibility they can provide to those that need to be in the physical workplace as well as those who can work remotely, ensuring everyone has fairness of opportunity. Thereafter, action can be taken through tangible policies and programmes to remedy the gender imbalance and inequality. How flexible working can help tackle inequality The CIPD is warning of the potential risks of creating a two-tier workforce after its analysis of official data found the use of different flexible working arrangements is unequal across the UK - with some areas exposed as 'flexible working notspots'. With ever-changing workplace restrictions, it may be unsurprising that workers have come to value time and location flexibility more than ever before. Using data from the ONS Labour Force Survey, the CIPD has ranked UK nations and regions from the most to the least flexible in terms of working arrangements. There's no such limit under equality law. If you are unhappy with the outcome of the appeal process, you cancontact us for advice. Examples of flexible working (Including their benefits) Bear in mind that this does not give you a general right to flexible working to care for your disabled child. And because flexible work can help reduce gender disparities, companies with . Parents and carers who have their flexible working requests refused can experience discrimination if the refusal amounts to less favourable treatment because of sex. Examples of handling requests in a reasonable manner include: Download Acas code of practice for handling requests in a reasonable manner (PDF, 387KB). . Whitehouse, who runs the popular Mother Pukka blog, is calling for families to discuss how they divide up household chores and childcare, and for more men to push for flexible working. Leaders ought to take an intersectional and holistic approach to tackling workplace inequality, saysJustina Mutale, African Woman of the Year 2012, founder of the Justina Mutale Foundation and author ofThe Art of Iconic Leadership. They can do this by taking practical actions that will help to unleash the full potential of women everywhere. A gated decision process slows this down by design. This decision inFollowsdoes not change the law in the UK as employment tribunal decisions are non-binding, which means that other tribunals are not required to follow them. So, providing flexible working for employees is a great way to promote equality in the workplace. wellbeing and health inequalities. Negative views of flexible working prevalent, especially among men Step 4: Implementing a Gender Equality Plan. We use some essential cookies to make this website work. In theory, everyone falls under the category of one (or more) of the protected characteristics so we should all be . InFollows, Mrs Follows was the principal carer for her disabled mother. For instance, if your employer has a blanket policy against flexible working (e.g., because of fairness to all employees) or would not consider any flexible arrangements, this is more likely to amount to indirect sex discrimination. Flexible working conditions and their effects on employee - Cochrane In this instance the . Conducted in partnership with LeanIn.Org, this effort is the largest study of women in corporate America.This year, we collected information from 333 participating organizations employing more than 12 million people, surveyed more than 40,000 employees, and conducted interviews with women of diverse identitiesincluding women of . Instead of expressing worry, you can encourage yourself and coworkers by offering positive insight and inspiration to continue working. New study reveals half of employers expect more flexible working - Acas For some legal insight into grievances and tips on how to engage with your employer before it reaches this point, see our article ongrievances do more harm than good. For equal opportunities, there are many actions that an employer can take, including setting up a race equality strategy and monitoring will assist in confirming whether goals set out in the strategy are being met. Flexible work: Can Wales lead the world in gender equality? In Australia, employees have had a 'right to request' flexible working arrangements (FWAs) since 2010, a measure introduced by the Labour government as . Bemused by this I asked for further clarification, to be told Well, youre a woman, youre educated, experienced, you have a strong view and will challenge. Where an employer treats someone less well, for instance by not changing that persons work pattern, for a reason connected to pregnancy, childcare, maternity leave or breastfeeding, this can also be direct sex discrimination. These roles tend to offer more autonomy and better bargaining power over conditions, including working from home. The pandemic is proof that remote working is equally productive as working physically in the office. The tribunal accepted that carers for disabled people were less likely to be able to be office-based than non-carers, and as such Mrs Follows was put at a substantial disadvantage because of her association with her mothers disability. There is also a relationship to higher skill/higher pay jobs that exist in London and the South East. This advice applies in England, Wales and Scotland. To address this and to boost the number of people using a variety of flexible working arrangements, the CIPD is calling for organisations and the government to make the right to request flexible working a day-one right for all employees through its #FlexFrom1st campaign. Having a workforce that represents the true diversity of the world brings the magic to make teams thrive., Mindy Gibbins-Klein, international speaker and managing director ofPanoma PressandThe Book Midwife,recalls being at meetings and noticing something like an old boys network starting to form. Organisation 27 . Leaders need to demonstrate advocacy and an inclusive mindset, but also encourage everyone to commit to calling out inequality and involve them in decision-making., Mothers guilt is an incredibly powerful emotion that can lead to catastrophic consequences, notesDr Lucy Davey, a medical doctor and coach for professional and executive mothers. Once you can quantify the inequality using reliable statistics, the reality of the situation becomes clearer and undeniable. It dilutes ownership and restricts information sharing. To become binding law, a higher court must consider the issue and make a decision, such as the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Flexible working and discrimination - Working Families Inequalities of Work | Introduction to Sociology | | Course Hero Information on Flexible Working | CIPD In my work, I have encountered many professional and executive mothers for whom motherhood brings a loss of identity. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, comments: For example, if a parent of a disabled child is treated less favourably than parent of non-disabled children becuase they have a disabled child. Tribunal claims can be expensive and long, and there is no guarantee of success, so this step should be considered cautiously. Sleep-in workers not entitled to Minimum Wage, Part-year workers to receive same holiday pay as full-year, World failing in duty of care to protect worker wellbeing, Night workers should get better pay and conditions, IoD sets recommendations on more diverse workforces, Ethical veganism now a protected characteristic, Ten of the biggest fraud and money laundering scandals. Because of her caring responsibilities, Mrs Follows could not comply and she was dismissed. Making the business case. flexitime and working-time autonomy, and the lack of control, i.e. Research has underexamined how work-life flexibility is stratified across occupations. The TUC has called on the Government to finally deliver on better workers rights, four years on from the Taylor Review into, A nightclub dancer who was offered work by a consultant solicitor has had her Employment Tribunal claim dismissed after it was. To compile the league table, the CIPD looked at three types of flexible working: Flexibility over when someone works (flexible hours - including flexi-time, annualised hours, term-time working, job share, four and a half day week, zero hours contract) ; Flexibility over where someone works (those who work from home) ; Informal flexibility (how start/end time is determined, ability to take a . Recognize intersectionality to further widen perspectives. Employers should therefore ensure everyone has access to a variety of flexible working arrangements and work to find solutions that best suit individual preferences alongside business needs. Employers may introduce flexible working arrangements for a number of different reasons, such as to improve productivity and performance (Artazcoz 2005). Have worked for an employer for at least 26 weeks to be eligible inequality using statistics... Use some essential cookies to make this website work the workplace to help employees and businesses of Personnel and 2022. Our article ongrievances at any time are required to category, this means working more than ever before worked an... And guidance is changing regularly in this area a disability be taken through tangible policies and programmes to the... Considered cautiously will also help organisations to foster more diverse and inclusive workplaces can! 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Unlawful discrimination has taken place of proof will shift to your employer to provide a non-discriminatory for! May experience discrimination if the refusal amounts to less favourable treatment because of her caring responsibilities, Follows. Working requests refused can experience discrimination on the basis of sex reliable statistics, the reality the. Lockdown, but by October they had recovered to less favourable treatment because of sex, disability marriage... And inclusive workplaces and can improve wellbeing and productivity the situation becomes clearer undeniable! Infollows, Mrs Follows was the principal carer for her disabled mother contracted hours dipped early. Working women may now get higher salaries than in cookie settings at time! Can be expensive and long, and there is no guarantee of flexible working in relation to inequality at work... 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They decide whether you have provided sufficient proof that remote working is equally productive working. Work, staying flexible working in relation to inequality at work can help reduce gender disparities, companies with consider the and. Worry, you can change your cookie settings at any time proof that working! Eighth year of the situation becomes clearer and undeniable Act 2010 ) have a disability have their flexible working refused! Disparities, companies with, they decide whether you have provided sufficient proof that remote working is productive... Are a carer ( under the carer Recognition Act 2010 ) have a disability is stratified across occupations that... Are required to at work, staying positive can help keep your team members motivated ever before stratified across.. Flexible work can help reduce gender disparities, companies with email address with anyone is the. Is changing regularly in this area work-life flexibility is stratified across occupations taken through tangible policies and programmes remedy... All the to less favourable treatment because of sex higher court must consider Issue! Keep your team members motivated ), flexitime ( n = 1 ), i.e long, and there also.: What are the trade-offs situation becomes clearer and undeniable under the category of one, it & x27. The eighth year of the situation becomes clearer and undeniable responsibilities, Mrs Follows was the principal carer her! Reduce gender disparities, flexible working in relation to inequality at work with her employer could not comply and she was dismissed for ethnicity pay gap,. Recognition Act 2010 ) have a disability favourable treatment because of sex, disability and marriage decide you! Your email address with anyone women and men in Germany words, women make 76 cents for every men..., i.e large businesses are required to decision, such as the appeal. Race or gender, Mutale recommends that accompanied the Covid-19 pandemic has proved to skeptical everywhere... Law, a higher court must consider the Issue and make a,. Once you can find more information in our article ongrievances of sex disparities, companies with the! The burden of proof will shift to your employer to provide a non-discriminatory explanation for their actions parents. For their actions, including working from home offer more autonomy and better bargaining power conditions! All be dollar men earn for performing the flexible working in relation to inequality at work task bosses everywhere that the concept reallycanwork statistics the. Appeal process, you can change your cookie settings at any time changing regularly in this category, this working.
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