The government White Paper on the Equality Bill was published on 26 June 2008. And although it doesn't go as far as some employers had originally feared, the clear message is that the government is committed to working to achieve equality in the workpla  More...
02 July 2008 16:07

The Equality Bill promises the biggest shake up in discrimination law since the 1970s. Its provisions will have serious repercussions for employers, especially with regard to positive discrimination, openness on pay and the extension of age discrimi  More...
02 July 2008 15:59

Will the Equality Bill allow employers to effectively tackle the inequalities that still persist in many British workplaces? No. Let's be honest - positive action is discrimination. Whether it is justifiable or, indeed, necessary is a totally   More...
02 July 2008 15:55

Nearly one-third of fathers feel they don't have the same level of access to work-life benefits as their colleagues, a study has found. Recruitment specialists Adecco found that just 70% of fathers felt their access to a proper work-life balance was  More...
16 June 2008 15:03

HR news and analysis including: Equalities experts tell Personnel Today that diversity cannot be truly measured in organisations unless people come forward with disabilities they have – disabled people need to be confidentially monitored We br  More...
13 June 2008 14:39

EXCLUSIVE Three-quarters of organisations now offer childcare voucher schemes, but staff take-up remains low due to poor communication, according to an exclusive survey by Personnel Today in association with voucher provider Sodexo. The resear  More...
13 June 2008 00:03

Our exclusive survey on childcare voucher schemes reveals that organisations need better communications if they are to reap the benefits.  More...
12 June 2008 17:17

Flexible working law could be thrown into disarray if the Working Time Directive goes through the European Council in its current state on Monday, according to an expert. The right to request flexible working could be extended to every employee  More...
06 June 2008 16:51

The fight for greater workers' rights will go on despite the recent raft of legislative announcements, a key union figure has warned. In the past few weeks, the government has announced that it will extend the right to request flexible working to p  More...
03 June 2008 10:41

Flexible working arrangements are proving hard to secure despite new laws - with seven in 10 employers admitting they rarely accept requests to work from home. The Labour Market Outlook survey of 735 UK employers, by the Chartered Institute of Pers  More...
27 May 2008 15:00

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled in favour of the City lawyer whose discrimination and bullying claim is worth £19m - the largest amount on record. Gill Switalski quit her £140,000-a-year job as head of legal affairs last September fo  More...
27 May 2008 10:30

Supermarket giant Asda has launched a new flexible working scheme for its employees to improve their work-life balance. 'Asda Flex' contains six flexible working programmes to encourage all 165,000 staff - whether hourly paid or salaried, or working   More...
19 May 2008 10:57

HR news and analysis including: Imelda Walsh talks exclusively to Personnel Today on the flexible working review to extend the right to request flexbile working to parents of children aged 16 and under HR directors from Topps Tiles and   More...
16 May 2008 16:58

The government has announced that the right to request flexible working will be extended to staff with children up to the age of 16. Business secretary John Hutton has accepted the recommendations of Sainsbury's HR director Imelda Walsh's report into  More...
15 May 2008 15:19

Gordon Brown used the draft Queen's Speech to announce a new right to request time off work for training. Revealing his plans for the next parliament, Brown said every adult should have the right "to make the most of their potential". He sai  More...
14 May 2008 14:00

Imelda Walsh's flexible working review lacked independence from the government, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) implied this morning. National newspapers this weekend reported that prime minister Gordon Brown was about to  More...
14 May 2008 13:25

Despite the current good weather, the days when "working from home" was a euphemism for sunny days spent in the garden are long gone. These days, more people are opting to stay at home, either on occasion - when they need to plough through a meaty piece  More...
14 May 2008 00:00

HR news and analysis including: equalities groups warn that employees are not taking up their right to request flexible working for fear it will damage their careers public sector HR has been accused of being archaic by the chief of the PPMA and  More...
02 May 2008 15:08

There's a huge body of research to suggest staff who take time off to have a family are disadvantaged at work. But what can HR realistically do to ensure part-time carers are treated equally to full-time workers? Kate Hilpern reports.  More...
30 April 2008 14:55

The Working Families review of calls to our helpline during 2007 is most emphatically not a "shopping list" of what we would like ( 'Flexible working report under fire',  Personnel Today , 15 April) but an analysis of 5,000 predominantly low i  More...
23 April 2008 13:00

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been branded "incredibly short-sighted" amid claims it is holding back innovative welfare reforms. A local government chief has slammed the department's reluctance to support a scheme helping employers f  More...
04 April 2008 09:00

KPMG has launched a new maternity and parenting package for its employees, as it predicts that it will become more difficult for carers of children to balance work and home demands in the future. The professional services firm's My Family Matte  More...
31 March 2008 11:45

Do women on maternity leave accrue holidays? Can they keep their company cars? What about bonuses, health insurance and pension contributions? The law on this subject can be confusing and employers are often given conflicting advice.   More...
17 March 2008 08:00

HR news and analysis including: Could TUPE law be about to change with respect to private equity takeovers? Tomorrow is International Women's Day so we look at the scale of the gender pay gap in the UK and B&Q has been training its staff to  More...
07 March 2008 15:13

While it's encouraging that the government is investigating plans to extend the right to flexible working, it is worrying that John Hutton is already shying away from offering it to families ( 'John Hutton warns of an employer backlash over flexible w  More...
03 March 2008 10:00

It is unfortunate that the secretary of state John Hutton believes that a move to extend the right to ask for flexible working would alienate employers ( Personnel Today , 19 February). Increasingly, employers are recognising that technology is now  More...
03 March 2008 10:00

Germany's federal government is drafting a new law that promotes home care for dependants. The Home Care Act aims to provide employees with the option to combine work with home care for dependants. Under the Act, employees will also be entitled to o  More...
15 February 2008 08:34

The CBI has warned that extending the right to request flexible working to parents of children aged 18 or under is "out of the question". A review into expanding the right to request flexible working is being carried out by Sainsbury's human   More...
11 February 2008 09:39

Employers will need to tighten up discrimination and flexible working policies following a landmark disability decision, which is almost certain to give rise to new rights for millions of workers, legal experts have warned. An advocate-general at the  More...
04 February 2008 08:01

The recent ruling in the Employment Appeal Tribunal case of Cortest v O'Toole has finally given some clear guidance on the circumstances and length of time that people can take as emergency time off to care for dependants. But what is the right, and w  More...
21 January 2008 13:58

Four in five working mums are dreaming of a more flexible Christmas, according to a survey. The poll of 500 working mothers found that 78% were struggling to balance their work and home lives over the festive period. The research by remote-access s  More...
21 December 2007 11:07

Carers lose an average of £11,000 a year in earnings through caring for disabled or sick relatives, research has found. The figure, published today (7 December) to coincide with Carers UK's Carers Rights Day , reveals the financial loss suffered by   More...
07 December 2007 07:03

Leading employers were due to meet with carers minister Ivan Lewis yesterday (21 November) to discuss what businesses would like to see in the National Strategy for Carers . The meeting has been organised by charity Carers UK and Employers for C  More...
22 November 2007 08:02

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced a childcare voucher scheme for members of the Armed Forces to help them manage the costs of raising a family. From next month, about 196,000 members of the Armed Forces will be able to convert a proporti  More...
16 November 2007 09:42

Plans to extend the right to request flexible working to parents of older children will create workplace divisions among staff with and without children, business groups have warned. Sainsbury's human resources director Imelda Walsh will lead a revi  More...
12 November 2007 08:32

This week we bring you a taste of what’s making the headlines in human resources, including: Sainsbury's HR chief Imelda Watson to lead independent review of flexible working the numerous bills relevant to human resources from the Queens Speec  More...
09 November 2007 16:26

Imelda Walsh, human resources director at supermarket giant Sainsbury's , has been tasked with leading an independent review into how the current right to request flexible working can be extended. It forms as part of a government plan to extend   More...
07 November 2007 07:11

Few would deny that, despite major reforms, more needs to be done to help tackle workplace discrimination. Trevor Phillips , in his first major speech as chair of the new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), has called for the government   More...
05 November 2007 08:00

Fancy an afternoon off for a spot of nookie with the Mrs? If recent Dutch press reports are to be believed such behaviour may soon not require sneaking out of the office but would merely form one of the long list of employee rights. Reports have s  More...
22 October 2007 10:11

In this week’s podcast we take a look at some of the stories making the headlines in Personnel Today, including what HR professionals would banish to Room 101 and the outcome of an important European case on age discrimination. We also give you  More...
19 October 2007 14:06

Caring could become the seventh equalities strand after a European court case this week. Sharon Coleman's claim that she was discriminated against by her employer because she was caring for her severely disabled son was heard by the European Court  More...
15 October 2007 08:00

The financial cost to employers of unfair practices, and the extent of the ethnic, disabled and gender pay gaps were brought to the fore last week after a fringe event at the Labour Party Conference held by equality advisory organisation Committed  More...
01 October 2007 15:12

The trade union representing staff at the new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which comes into being today (1 October), has warned the body could be undermined by a lack of cash. The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has ex  More...
01 October 2007 11:45

Personnel Today online editor Rob Moss interviews Jo Stubbs, managing editor of XpertHR, on the introduction on Monday, 1 October 2007 of new legislation on statutory holiday entitlement. The change is the first wave of change to the law that will s  More...
28 September 2007 13:39

Conservative Party plans to give employment tribunals the power to order firms guilty of discrimination to undertake equal pay audits have been criticised by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Shadow minister for women Theresa May announc  More...
18 September 2007 08:02

The business Busy Bees is the fifth largest nursery chain in the UK, with 47 facilities providing just over 4,000 childcare places. The company was set up in 1984 when three couples needing childcare for their own children pooled the proceeds from th  More...
11 September 2007 11:46

The Mayor of London has called on employers in the capital to play their part in tackling child poverty. Ken Livingstone backed calls in a new report by the  London Child Poverty Commission , set up by the Greater London Authority in February 2006,  More...
10 September 2007 11:10

Bossy older sisters, warring brothers - could you cope with working with your sibling? And how would your manager cope? Tim Davis and his older brother Simon set up IDNet , billed as the cognoscenti's internet service provider, in 1996. Tim handle  More...
20 August 2007 00:00

HR news including: Boris Johnson attacks flexible working culture; Alliance Boots HR director Mike Cutt chooses not to take new job; and publisher MacMillan is fined for failing to comply with Information & Consultation regulations. Mike Berry,   More...
27 July 2007 13:08

Only one in 50 working parents entitled to childcare vouchers has signed up for the tax-saving scheme, according to research. Voucher provider Childcare Choice  found that employees believed it would be too much hassle to get i  More...
16 July 2007 14:11

Flexible working is seen by many people – including some lawyers – as a statutory right under UK law. This is incorrect. The right only extends to requesting flexible work.  More...
05 July 2007 12:23

In a survey on flexible working by communications giant Orange, leading businesses have warned other companies offering informal flexible working arrangements to staff that they may be "sleepwalking" towards major problems. Research by communications  More...
02 July 2007 08:40

A City trader has lost her £1.3m sex discrimination claim against BNP Paribas bank. Katharina Tofeji alleged that the investment bank had refused to grant her a four-day working week after she had a baby. Tofeji, who worked in the fore  More...
26 June 2007 13:20

The NHS must provide more flexible working as the service continues to attract more female doctors, the British Medical Association (BMA) has said. A group of 435 doctors who graduated from UK medical schools in 2006 will be surveyed by th  More...
25 June 2007 13:16

McMenemy v Capita Business Services Limited - Scottish Court of Session   More...
13 June 2007 00:00

The government has published a consultation on the Discrimination Law Review , which aims to modernise discrimination legislation. It includes proposals for a Single Equality Bill that would will put the law on equality and discrimination   More...
12 June 2007 12:40

With the school summer holidays fast approaching, where do employers stand regarding flexible working applications from parent and guardian employees? Q Does the statutory right to request flexible working apply in respect of all children? A No.  More...
12 June 2007 00:00

Business leaders have slammed high-profile calls for women to be allowed time off work to breastfeed - branding the issue a "minority" cause. MPs, unions, charities and celebrities last week launched the Breastfeeding  Manifesto  at the H  More...
22 May 2007 10:30

A consultation on new paternity leave proposals that would enable parents to share paid time off have been published by the government. The proposals are designed to give working parents more choice in their caring responsibilities. The  More...
14 May 2007 11:30

Conciliation service Acas will host a workshop on 16 May on implementing changes under the Work  and Families Act . The one-day event takes place at Jury’s Inn in Croydon , and will enable employers and staff to work through changes in the Act,  More...
01 May 2007 13:06

Almost a quarter of nursery places are now unfilled as a result of more flexible parenting rights which enable mothers to care for their young children, according to research. A report published by market analyst Laing and Buisson (L&G) f  More...
01 May 2007 12:55

Reading comments from the likes of Caroline Joy ( 'Urgent need for a change in attitude over working mums', Letters, Personnel Today , 10 April), makes me want to scream out loud. Not for the same reasons as Joy, but more because of the naivety an  More...
01 May 2007 00:00

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC)   has signed the Work Wise UK agreement supporting the adoption of new smarter working across the UK. The EOC joins many other signatories such as the CBI, TUC, British Chambers of Comme  More...
30 April 2007 13:32

The flexible working programme operated by professional services firm KPMG has won a top workplace award for gender equality, diversity and inclusion. KPMG won the ‘City Award’ at the Opportunity Now annual awards  last week.   More...
30 April 2007 11:00

An overwhelming majority of employers are providing employees with some form of flexible working, a report has revealed. The report, Work and Life: How business is striking the right balance , by the British Chambers of Commerce , provides a  More...
23 April 2007 11:49

High-earning, high-flying women workers are leaving the workforce in droves because employers aren't managing their family ambitions. Virginia Matthews reports.   More...
10 April 2007 08:00

I wanted to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) to SCREEEEEEEAM at Lesley Nash, managing director of Changework Now, and her appalling attitude to working mothers ( Personnel Today , 13 March ). As a working mother of two children und  More...
10 April 2007 00:00

Forget men behaving badly. It's now women working flexibly that are prompting the hottest debates in today's workplace. We ran an opinion piece a few weeks ago ( Personnel Today, 13 March ) from someone (a woman who runs her own business) who  More...
10 April 2007 00:00

I agree wholeheartedly with Lesley Nash's viewpoint ( Personnel Today , 13 March). Of course, customers expect excellent service and, in practice, 'don't care' if we have childcare issues. She is to be applauded for having the courage to write ho  More...
10 April 2007 00:00

More than 30 years after sex discrimination legislation was introduced, there are still barriers to women's success in the workplace ( 'Experts warn of limits on women' , Personnel Today , 13 March). Despite an increase in the movement of earnin  More...
10 April 2007 00:00

Minister for women, Ruth Kelly, will grant nearly £500,000 to a number of organisations to create more quality part-time jobs at senior level, in an effort to reduce the gender pay gap. The scheme comes a year after the Women and Work Commi  More...
03 April 2007 11:30

Carers UK has produced a free resource pack for employers with more information about the new right for carers to request flexible working . The charity estimates carers who look after a disabled or chronically ill frie  More...
02 April 2007 14:30

Childcare must become more affordable and reliable before lone parents are forced back into work, campaigners have warned. The government announced a new strategy to tackle child poverty through the labour markets on 27 March. It pledged more mon  More...
29 March 2007 10:08

Flexible working is high on the agenda, thanks to the Work and Families Act, but what are employers doing about it in practice? Our exclusive work-life balance research reveals that awareness is high, but staff feel organisations could do better.   More...
27 March 2007 00:00

Charity Counsel and Care has repeated its call for tax exemptions to be extended to care vouchers to help employees with caring responsibilities pay for support.   The charity wants chancellor Gordon Brown to announce the move in today’s B  More...
21 March 2007 13:51

British Airways (BA) has backed down after a three-year bid to prevent pilot Jessica Starmer reducing her hours by 50%. The airline has withdrawn its appeal against an employment tribunal ruling that found in favour of Starmer. In April  More...
09 March 2007 16:00

More than three-quarters of lone parents who return to work feel more independent and more confident, research has shown. More than 1,000 lone parents were asked to compare their working lives to the time spent caring full-time for their children.   More...
23 February 2007 09:14

A wide ranging review of the national strategy for carers  has been announced by the government. Alongside this, a multi-million pound package of support  for carers has also been unveiled by Ivan Lewis, minister for care services. Lewis anno  More...
22 February 2007 12:20

Employers have been warned that they will create factions in their workforces if they don't allow all staff to work flexibly. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said staff would soon resent the privileges given to parents and  More...
21 February 2007 08:02

The CBI has slammed a government minister’s call for flexible working rights to be extended to all employees, insisting that such a move would be foolish. Children’s minister Beverley Hughes said that all 29 million UK workers should be able to re  More...
12 February 2007 11:35

Most new mothers return to work because they need the money, not because they want to, according to research released today. The survey of 1,000 parents by website mother @ work found that for nearly two-thirds (62%) of parents the decision   More...
01 February 2007 09:20

More than 100 employers, including some of the UK's top companies, have signed up to an 'exemplar employer' scheme that aims to reduce the gender pay gap. The scheme requires organisations to give a clear commitment to reducing the   More...
30 January 2007 14:32

The government must give more support to employers in promoting flexible working rather than just overloading them with red tape, a leading business figure said last week. Patricia Peter, head of corporate governance and employment at the Institute  More...
29 January 2007 15:31

Trade unions are ready to step up their fight for flexible working rights, a senior union official has revealed. The CBI last week predicted a quiet revolution in working practices as it signed a pledge with the TUC to encourage flexible working.  More...
29 January 2007 15:16

The issue of equality in the workplace is always emotive, if your recent coverage on equal pay - and the subsequent bundle of reader letters - is anything to go by. In our experience, ensuring women are equal in the workplace requires action on many  More...
23 January 2007 00:00

The right to request flexible working and changes to the Work and Families Act 2006.  More...
23 January 2007 00:00

A landmark employment appeal decision has the potential to provide new protection for millions of the UK's working carers, legal experts have claimed. Sharon Coleman has won the right for an unfair treatment claim against her employer under the Disab  More...
10 January 2007 09:44

Senior HR directors have hit out at a union-backed report suggesting there is only a "superficial commitment" from public sector employers to work-life balance. The study of 1,000 union members by the Work Foundation think-tank, commissioned by publi  More...
11 December 2006 14:00

Almost two-thirds of UK employees would prefer to work flexibly but almost half are concerned that flexible working will have a negative impact on their careers, research has revealed. Three quarters of UK employees are also unaware of their legal ri  More...
08 December 2006 08:46

A leading Labour MP has praised Personnel Today’s Tax Breaks for Carers campaign for highlighting the need to help employees with caring responsibilities. Hywel Francis, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Carers, welcomed the support   More...
06 December 2006 08:25

Employers can significantly expand their recruitment base by targeting carers,a leading HR director has said. Caroline Waters, director, people and policy at BT Group , said there was a very clear business case for accommodating carers as the UK was  More...
06 December 2006 07:37

The TUC is calling on the government to extend flexible working rights to the over-50s after new figures revealed more than one-third of UK workers believe they will be unable to do their job at 60 years old. The statistics from the 2005 Working Cond  More...
27 November 2006 11:58

Secretary of state for communities and local government Ruth Kelly has told new Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) chairman Kay Hampton that she will be crucial to the body's legacy. Hampton replaces Trevor Phillips as chairman of the CRE on 1 De  More...
23 November 2006 11:01

Employers should consider extending the right to request flexible working to all employees.  More...
21 November 2006 00:00

Charity Carers UK is urging employers to extend the right to request flexible working to all carers in their workforce after the government clarified the definition used in the Work and Families Act. The legislation, due to come into force in April 2  More...
14 November 2006 09:03

Carers across the UK are set to benefit from the right to request flexible working. Employment relations minister Jim Fitzpatrick today announced  the definition of carer that will be used for the right to request adaptable hours from 6 April  More...
09 November 2006 13:01

What changes need to be made due to the Work and Families Act? Naomi Branston outlines some of the key provisions.  More...
08 November 2006 00:00

I wanted to respond to the comments by Rebecca Clake in your 'Spotlight on time for sale' article ( Personnel Today , 12 September) suggesting that managing an ultra-flexible workforce could be a headache for HR. Our experience operating the pilot m  More...
31 October 2006 00:00

The government announced today that a £16.8m investment package would be used to help small and medium-sized businesses provide better childcare for their employees. The Workplace Nurseries Capital initiative aims to help employers provide childcare  More...
26 October 2006 12:58

Financial services and IT firms may have been male-dominated industries in the past, but according to a survey by the Times they are the sectors women now aspire to work in. Firms from both sectors featured heavily in the paper's Top 50 Plac  More...
17 October 2006 08:00

Companies can pay women less than their male colleagues if their length of service is shorter because of taking time off for childcare, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled in a landmark case . The ECJ said employers did not have   More...
04 October 2006 09:18

UK firms are losing out because millions of carers are under-achieving at work and are in poor health, a new report has revealed. Research from charity Carers UK, launched at the Labour Party conference last week, shows that half of carers working mo  More...
03 October 2006 08:00

...new fathers  More...
03 October 2006 00:00

Seven in 10 employees believe they would be more productive if they worked from home, according to research. The survey of 300 London workers by Sirenic IT company found that most (70%) employees believed home working to be more beneficial for   More...
20 September 2006 10:04

The government should boost child benefit and introduce compulsory pay audits in all companies to ensure women are able to raise families, Harriet Harman, the minister for justice, urged yesterday. Harman said women were delaying motherhood and havin  More...
15 September 2006 14:09

The government will today unveil new proposals ranging "from the playground to the boardroom" to help women succeed in the workplace. Communities secretary Ruth Kelly will launch a series of new initiatives, which are expected to include a new recrui  More...
11 September 2006 11:03

Business leaders are concerned about the cost of the extension of maternity leave and the transfer of the administrative burden of maternity benefits from the government to employers  More...
05 September 2006 09:58

Analysis: Should employers look to Sweden when trying to create successful family-friendly policies?  More...
05 September 2006 00:00

Asda has announced that it will no longer ask people applying for a job at any of its UK stores to give their date of birth on their application form  More...
29 August 2006 09:27

Sue Yeandle, professor of sociology at the University of Leeds, calls for stronger bonds between employment, caring and public policy   More...
22 August 2006 00:00

Personnel Today is supporting an employer-led campaign to introduce tax breaks for employees who support older relatives. As a part of the campaign Personnel Today is asking HR professionals to sign our petition to urge the government to include tax breaks for carers in its next comprehensive spending review, to be announced in Spring 2007.   More...
14 August 2006 16:00

Only half the UK' s new fathers take up their full entitlement to paternity leave.  More...
01 August 2006 12:42

An overwhelming majority of Scottish shopworkers support a new Bill that aims to ban large stores from opening on Christmas Day and New Year's Day, according to retail union Usdaw  More...
31 July 2006 14:52

Employers have been urged to change their attitudes to female staff or risk burning them out.  More...
25 July 2006 08:00

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the Public Sector People Managers Association (PPMA) have thrown their weight behind Personnel Today's Tax Breaks for Carers campaign.  More...
25 July 2006 07:55

Given that the HR community is predominantly female, you are likely to sit up and take notice of the news story on our front page this week. A new study claims that the UK's long-hours culture is apparently more damaging to women than it is to men, as  More...
25 July 2006 00:00

When the Commission for Equality and Human Rights comes into being the unions are expecting to play an important role in its regional outposts.  More...
18 July 2006 08:01

The new Childcare Act has received Royal Assent, giving parents who work, or want to work, new rights to childcare provision.  More...
12 July 2006 11:52

A new mother who is working for us has requested a change to her hours so she can breastfeed, but ours isn't the kind of business where we can agree to flexible hours for breastfeeding. Could we be accused of sexual discrimination if we say no? Em  More...
11 July 2006 00:00

Black and minority ethnic families face barriers to using childcare including cost, lack of flexibility and access to information, a report warns today.  More...
03 July 2006 16:00

Female officer wins sex discrimination case over police refusal to grant flexible working after pregnancy.  More...
27 June 2006 13:42

Retail union Usdaw has won the backing of more than 100 MPs for its campaign to scrap the earning limit that prevents thousands of UK workers who care for severely disabled dependents from claiming Carers' Allowance  More...
26 June 2006 09:00

Tory leader creates flurry of excitement in HR by jumping on work-life balance bandwagon.  More...
25 May 2006 08:34

The NHS is tackling absenteeism by promoting an innovative staff benefit that allows parents to find emergency childcare with less than an hour's notice  More...
09 May 2006 08:43

Less than one-third of female employees received any financial or other childcare-related support after returning to work from maternity leave last year  More...
02 May 2006 08:00

If women are to break through the glass ceiling employers should be encouraged to provide vouchers to help with domestic tasks and childcare, says Demos  More...
24 April 2006 10:50

While the number of mothers taking their full maternity leave entitlement is rising, only 36% of fathers take more than two weeks paternity leave  More...
03 April 2006 09:16

Firms are being urged to work 'smarter' by taking part in Work Wise Week in May.  More...
30 March 2006 08:49

A host of leading UK employers and campaign groups have called on the government to introduce tax breaks for workers with caring responsibilities  More...
28 March 2006 08:00

Following on from its own survey on the glass ceiling stopping women getting to the top, Accenture has launched an initiative to get more females in senior roles.  More...
23 March 2006 09:08

Sarah Keeble, employment partner, Olswang  More...
21 March 2006 08:00

Men fail to convince bosses of business benefits of flexibility.  More...
16 March 2006 08:07

A husband’s long hours have become the fastest growing reason for women to seek a divorce, even if they do not suspect infidelity, new research shows.  More...
13 March 2006 13:24

A new Department of Trade and Industry consultation on paternity leave and pay published today focuses on giving working parents the right to choose who cares for a child in their first year of life  More...
10 March 2006 14:54

The government has reportedly scrapped a ground-breaking scheme designed to get more women to return to work in the NHS   More...
17 January 2006 11:54

Research suggests employees get the best deals from bigger employers, but work-life balance has no effect on the bottom line  More...
17 January 2006 08:00

As increasing numbers of women leave having children until later in their careers, will maternity coaching catch on as a training tool? Stephanie Sparrow examines the possibilities  More...
17 January 2006 00:00

Do we have a legal obligation to honour a request for a career break or sabbatical? Career breaks are not officially recognised by law. However, many employers are willing to consider the possibility as an alternative to losing a valuable employee   More...
06 December 2005 00:00

Employers that provide enhanced maternity pay risk sex discrimination claims from fathers  More...
08 November 2005 00:00

Proposals to introduce six months' paternity leave have all the hallmarks of New Labour policy – an eye-catching, headline-grabbing idea that will have very little real effect  More...
08 November 2005 00:00

Women in the UK are increasing opting to manage their own working lives by setting up as 'portfolio' workers.  More...
04 November 2005 08:27

The Equal Opportunities Commission has called on the government to introduce shared parental leave which would let new parents decide who looks after their children  More...
11 October 2005 00:00

Suggestions that the forthcoming Work and Families Bill will include a right to six months unpaid paternity leave have alarmed business leaders, who warn of an administrative nightmare  More...
10 October 2005 09:35

Mothers and fathers should have a right to share childcare leave, the Equal Opportunities Commission tells the government  More...
10 October 2005 09:00

Your news story 'Flexible working laws will not be extended to all employees' makes for interesting reading, though it sadly underlines how little business has moved forward in achieving flexibility  More...
04 October 2005 00:00

One in five fathers in the UK works such long hours that he doesn’t see his children during the week, according to new research  More...
13 September 2005 12:25

The problems that businesses have implementing flexible working schemes are outweighed by the benefits, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)  More...
12 September 2005 11:00

In France the employment rate for women aged 24 to 49, including those with children, is 80%. Leah Larkin finds out how childcare arrangements work  More...
06 September 2005 00:00

There are now 3.8 million internet home workers in the UK, most working in areas of greater prosperity such as London  More...
02 September 2005 07:00

Irish employers are looking to migrant workers to fill skills gaps as a lack of childcare facilities restricts home-grown workers.  More...
19 August 2005 15:10

Care home firm loses tribunal case after refusing flexible work request.  More...
17 August 2005 09:15

One in three Scots employees would take a salary cut to reduce their working hours, according to new research  More...
15 August 2005 12:20

Some UK workers still put in more than 70 hours a week   More...
02 August 2005 12:00

The London borough of Barnet is overhauling its IT to enable all its staff to work flexibly   More...
02 August 2005 09:00

CIPD report suggests flexible working can create problems if employers fail to bring the interests of business and staff together  More...
01 August 2005 12:30

A former employee at Herbert Smith has been awarded nearly £40,000, following a tribunal hearing.  More...
26 July 2005 12:14

UK employers are risking discrimination claims this summer because they are too family-friendly with holiday entitlement, experts have warned  More...
26 July 2005 09:50

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has rejected BA's appeal against a ruling in favour of a female pilot.  More...
22 July 2005 08:30

Forcing parents to stay home with suspended children will put jobs at risk, employers warn   More...
21 July 2005 15:00

Enhanced maternity rights have had little effect on the prospects of female workers  More...
18 July 2005 11:22

Employers have been urged to be use tax-friendly childcare schemes as a tool to retain valuable employees.  More...
12 July 2005 08:30

The Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) is quite simply the most authoritative statement on life at work in the UK that there is. Involving 2,295 managers, 991 employee representatives and no fewer than 22,451 employees, all drawn from the  More...
12 July 2005 00:00

Women working full-time are 29% more likely to get divorced than those who stay at home and raise children, according to new research.   More...
11 July 2005 11:00

The flexible working debate looks set to heat up as the government conducts a consultation on whether and how to extend the right to request flexible working from its current catchment group - parents with children under the age of six or disabled childr  More...
05 July 2005 07:00

I heard a story recently about a woman who pretended she had a young child just so she had a pretext for leaving work early when she wanted to  More...
05 July 2005 07:00

The increa