Tell CBI what you think employers could do for parents to make it easier to balance work and family life? £250 voucher to be won!NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

As part of The Great Business Debate campaign, The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) have asked us to find out what Mumsnetters think employers could do better to make it easier for parents to balance work and family life.

Here’s what CBI say, “The Great Business Debate is a CBI led campaign to help build public confidence in business.

"Only around half of people believe business makes a positive contribution to society and we want to play a part in increasing that figure. We are doing this by:
• Setting out the facts and combatting myths about what business does and the contribution it makes
• Encouraging people to give us their views on business and where it needs to do more
• Providing an opportunity for business to take part in a constructive conversation about what it does and how it does it

"As employees, our experiences of working life have a big impact on our view of business. Companies of all sizes rely on their people for success, and want to make use of the best talents available. But there is an ongoing debate about whether employers are doing enough to ensure parents – and especially mums – are supported to balance their family and work life, without having to sacrifice one for the other. We're sponsoring this discussion with Mumsnetters to hear your views.”

So, what do you think employers could do to make it easier for parents returning to work to find a balance between family life and work? Maybe you’d like more employers to encourage flexible working hours? Or perhaps to prioritise parents when employees request to have annual leave during school holidays? Whatever it is, we’d love to hear it!

Everyone who comments on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £250 Love2Shop voucher.

CBI are also hosting a round table event on this topic on Wednesday 26th November in Central London, which will be attended by business leaders and not-for-profit organisations, as well as Justine, our CEO. There are two places reserved for Mumsnetters also. If you’d be interested in attending then please PM me, we will then select two Mumsnetters at random.

Please note: Please be aware your anonymised comments may be re-used by the CBI on their websites, over social media and for broader PR purposes.

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Change in attitude of senior management - there is discussion about work life balance , flexible working etc but in practice women who seek any flexibility or work part time are sidelined, denied promotion or access to talent pooling etc (and i suspect this also feed through to pay and bonus but we are not allowed to discuss)

As a single parent some consideration around travel and start times of meetings etc would also assist as getting overnight childcare is difficult (not to mention impact on DS) yet all training courses are frequently in London (250 miles away)

I think Companies should be able to compromise concerning flexi time, especially concerning single parents who find it near on possible to juggle work/home life,maybe a better understanding of certain circumstances.

Hi I'm new to mums net and was wanting to know if anyone has experienced the same or has any advice.
I was due my period 5 days ago but it did not appear, I had intercourse 2 days ago and there was a streak of pinkish blood when I wiped, I expected that this was the start of my period but I have had nothing since . We are trying for a baby and did do a test 4 days before I was due my period ( a little too keen I think) but it came back negative , should I test again ( a little worried now it might still be negative )

Lolababy00, this is a discussion about making businesses more family-friendly. I would suggest you post in the pregnancy or conception sections, which can be found through the links below.

Conception
Pregnancy

Sorry thanks for pointing me in right direction

Stopping unpaid overtime whether the employee is happy to do it or not. The toll on family and social life is huge and should not be tolerated. Remember - when you retire, you instantly become defined by you and not your job title.

Companies should try to vary the times and days of weekly meetings so that any employees working flexi / part time / staggered hours don't regularly miss the same meetings. In my former workplace meetings were often at 8am or 5pm which meant that I looked like a slacker when I often had to miss these or leave early due to childcare commitments.

-flexible hours available to either a mother or father
-understanding that a father is a parent too and may have to take time off for an ill child (it's not the mother's sole responsibility)
-longer paternity leave for father ... or option of having a longer time off at part time temporarily

flexible hours with term time for school holidays

paternity leave for dads, flexi time...

Definitely more flexibility for men. We are quite lucky in that our children are cared for by relatives but DP works for a small family run business locally whereas I work for a large corporate and commute into London.

On the odd occasion that DD needs a parent around, DP's work are difficult and try to insist that I take the time off instead of DP. That's not always practical though as it takes me almost 1.5hrs to get home!

Let me work longer hours termtime and have more time off during school holidays.

more flexibility with work availability

Complete flexibility over working hours, and the option to work from home, would have been two things that would have really helped me.
I ended up giving up work when pregnant with my 3rd child, because we struggled so much to juggle work, school, nursery, holidays etc. I was given vaguely flexible (as in different from the standard 9-5.30) hours, but in practice they were very rigid, I had to be in work by 8:30, could only take half an hour dinner, and although I was meant to leave at 4:30 in practice I found myself staying later quite often.
If I'd been able to flex my hours on a day to day basis (for example, working longer hours on my dh's rest days) that would have been a massive help. And school holidays would have been easier to deal with had I been able to work from home at least some of the time!
Sadly I worked for bosses who were 50-60 year old males, and very unsympathetic to family needs. Which is why I'm now a SAHM!

Self employed now but employed whe DD was 1-3yo. My employer allowed me to work 12 paid hours a week but work 16, which helped with WTC and also allowed me to build up hours to cover child sickness and childminders holiday time.

I think priority holiday in summer holidays is good and from experience when I was childless I didn't want time off when kids were off school anyway as too busy and too expensive.

I think in 2014 everyone should offer flexible working hours

My three biggest concerns are:

People often assume that you don't care about your job anymore because you're a mother. How can we change this thinking?

The terrifying cost of decent childcare - how can we encourage more companies to partner up with childcare. Large companies perhaps having their own crèches? Is it cost or red tape causing so much reluctance?

Finally the complete lack of flexibility in education. When is the school term set up going to be remodelled to reflect modern society?

Employers could offer flexitime or make working hours the same as school hours so parents can get home at the same time as their children

If nursery was next to work, what would happen when it came to reception/schooling?

Whatever schemes your company put in place, the main thing that helps is if your immediate boss is understanding.

Flexi-time and working from home for 'mere' admin office staff. I'm fed up with management getting to work from home in school holidays while the rest of us use annual leave or take unpaid.

Flexible working for both men and women.

Flexible working hours and WFH as a right (providing of course the business doesn't suffer). Fed up with working in a small team for a manager who refuses both as a matter of principle, whereas other teams are given access to both as a result of more understanding and flexible bosses.

There needs to be more flexibility to suit both parties so if working from home is an option in the role this should be allowed or flexible hours where a set number of hours are done that work around childcare