Flexible work denied to a third of female public sector employees
New research by Unison has found that 30% of women working across the public sector in the UK have had their requests to work flexibly denied. In addition, 25% of these workers have had their requests rejected more than once.
The study, which was published last week, included responses from just over 44,000 women working in the public sector. According to Unison, one of the UK’s largest trade unions, the findings suggest employers are being ‘inconsistent, rigid and unimaginative’ by denying individuals flexibility needs.
Experts discovered that 47% of respondents had requested some flexibility in their jobs so they could achieve a better work-life balance and 37% had done so to look after their mental health. Moreover, 36% wanted to work flexibly to work around their childcare needs and 29% for physical health reasons.
However, when making their requests women were met with an influx of reasons as to why it wouldn’t be possible. More than two fifths of women were informed that it would affect the quality of the service provided and 28% that there wouldn’t be enough colleagues to cover their duties.
Against this backdrop, 20% were denied flexibility because their managers said it would prompt other staff members to make the same requests. Although the reasons listed are shocking, arguably the most unjust finding to come out of this survey is that 15% of women were given no reason at all as to why they couldn’t work flexibly.
Commenting on the findings, Christina McAnea, general secretary of Unison said: ‘It’s disheartening to see many employers continuing to deny their staff the opportunity to work flexibly. They have nothing to lose and nothing to gain.
‘But sadly many women who find they need to inject some flexibility into their working lives are coming up against employers with inconsistent, rigid, and unimaginative attitudes.
‘While there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, some form of flexible working is achievable in most workplaces.’
News of female workers being denied the ability to work flexibility has been published just before a new flexible-working law is set to come into force in England, Scotland, and Wales this April. This gives employees a statutory right to request flexible working from their first day at work, as opposed to the current situation that requires a minimum six-month wait.
While UNISON believes this move is a step in the right direction, the union wants more to be done to allow employees to work flexibly.
‘Helping women to balance work with caring commitments not only improves morale, but can also help employers fill hard-to-recruit jobs,’ Christina said. ‘And with fewer vacancies, services provided to the public are likely to improve.’
Christina added: ‘Too many employers are still turning down flexible-working requests, which means the right to request is pretty meaningless for many women. The right to work flexibly from day one would be beneficial for staff and employers alike, and help bring workplaces into the 21st century.’
Image: Amy Hirschi