Family-friendly working

What are your rights to take time off work to care for dependants? XpertHR covers the basics

The technology is now in place to let your highly-valued employees work from Outer Mongolia should they so desire. But UK plc is wary. Simon Kent finds out how organisations can learn to let go and make trust a key element of their strategy

An employee's time abroad is normally when support is provided from the employer. However, coming home means upheaval, which can in turn bring stress. It falls to HR departments to confront the disconcerting effects of repatriation.

The government's pro-family policies designed to help working parents may be damaging the cause of women's equality, a campaign group has claimed.

Government must provide an administrative system to co-ordinate the new arrangements, said the CBI

Childcare and maternity/paternity pay set to come under the spotlight in the next general election as Labour and Conservative parties reveal their proposals for working parents

Although the government is ignoring the importance of people in company reporting regulations, Tony Blair has acknowledged that workplace issues will be a key factor in the forthcoming election

Too much has been given over to family-friendly policies. What about the childless workers who are left, as Hartley states, "bridging the gaps"? (Presonnel Today, 15 February)

The Equal Opportunity Commission's recommendation to extend the right to request flexible working to parents with older children or those with other caring responsibilities should be treated with caution, according to the CBI

Acas chief executive John Taylor has pledged its full support to help employers extend flexible working to part-time staff

More than half of the UK's part-time workers are in jobs that they feel fail to capitalise on their qualifications, skills and previous management experience, according to the Equal Opportunities Commission.

The importance of workplace issues for the electorate was underlined today when Tony Blair announced that childcare and immigration will be on Labour's election "pledge card".

HR Hartley on the pitfalls of being part of the forgotten majority

Most people in the UK believe single parents should be first in line for government subsidies for childcare and better wages, according to research by think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

We've had quite a rash of maternity and paternity leave which, even with the best of interim cover, has left all sorts of cracks