Working parents not being supported in the workplace

Many working parents are leaving employers due to inadequate support as established in a recent survey, identifying that one-third of working parents reported leaving a job because their employer failed to meet their needs.

It was established that flexible working policies are often not being honoured with nearly half of flexible working requests were denied, despite organisations having policies that promised flexibility. 45% of working parents felt pressured to shorten their parental leave and return to work earlier than planned. Return-to-work support is frequently lacking with findings of one-third of parents received no structured reboarding or reintegration support after returning from parental leave.

It was highlighted that managers need better training and support to handle parental leave, return-to-work conversations, and flexible working requests effectively. Flexibility is a retention issue, not just a policy issue as it was argued that a lack of genuine flexibility forces parents into difficult choices between work and childcare, contributing to employee turnover.

It was claimed that parental leave support should be viewed as a business performance issue and employers should measure outcomes such as retention, progression, absence rates, employee experience, and manager effectiveness rather than simply having parental leave policies in place. Fathers need greater encouragement to take parental leave with the enabling and encouraging men to take leave was identified as an important factor in advancing gender equality at work.

The findings suggest that many employers have parental leave and flexible working policies on paper, but inconsistent implementation, inadequate manager support, limited flexibility, and weak return-to-work processes are driving parents out of the workforce. Employers that provide genuine flexibility, structured reboarding, manager training, and childcare support are more likely to retain and develop working parents. inconsistent implementation, inadequate manager support, limited flexibility, and weak return-to-work processes are driving parents out of the workforce. Employers that provide genuine flexibility, structured reboarding, manager training, and childcare support are more likely to retain and develop working parents.

If you require advice and support in the managing of flexible working requests, contact one of our CIPD qualified Consultants to discuss further on 0800 9995 121.

Working parents not being supported in the workplace

121 HR Solutions Ltd