Working dads lose out in workplace

[PaleBlueMoonlight]

I’d be interested to know how you analyse this. I think it is good overall, but interesting that (1) no mention is made of how this is exactly how it has been for women and (2) that it has taken the problems that it creates for men for a suggestion to be made that all new jobs should be advertised as flexible. Still, as I say, I think good overall.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-43463335

They don’t seem to have picked a very good example, but maybe that is because so few men take leave. If the argument is that the company didn’t comply with the law, I’d rather hear about a man who took his workplace to court - that is what women have had to do.

I’m also not convinced by the suggested solutions. I don’t think it’s realistic to ask that all new jobs be advertised as flexible. (And if that were possible why wouldn’t all existing jobs be made flexible?)

Not sure whether the law has changed since I applied for and got flexible hours over 10 years ago, but I had to show that my job could be done flexibly.

Also, men have been able to ask for flexible working for as long as women.

Whoever takes the parental leave will, for many people depend on the financial impact and for most heterosexual couples it will be financially advantageous for the woman to take the leave because of the pay gap.

I agree, I think it's good overall.

"But what is your wife doing? Why isn't your wife picking up the children?"

This bit actually made me laugh. I have visions of all of these employers having a realisation that women work too and that if men are asking for flexibility too, that they're really quite stuck.

I agree that this is something women have faced for a really long time. I think it's good that men are facing the same challenges because I hope it will lead to people being treated a bit more equally. At the same them it's not great that employers are still discriminating in any form.

With regards to your second point, I get what you say and I sort of agree. Well I do agree, but, I also think that after any new policy comes in, it takes time to iron out the problems and work out how better to make it work. Could it be that they would only really know that more flexibility was needed once men and women were being treated the same with shared parental leave? Maybe but I'm not sure. Couldn't any practical person look at the problems women were facing and implement changes at that point alone? I don't know. I partly think that they improved things by bringing in shared parental leave and that it's a work in progress.

Not seen video yet. Lots of workplaces that I work with want men and women (who are requesting PT/compressed hours and iWFH element because they have young kids etc ) to be working in the office more than they work at home (so eg equal amounts is not OK) even when the requester has a long history of working in the office and at home very effectively. Or is a really good applicant for a vacancy.
This is really annoying, these employers also make a big song and dance about how modern and flexible they are due to their use of tech but then they turn down good applicants. Or returners to work, almost always women (but a couple of men IME) come back after their leave for a short time then they leave the job because the hours and travel are too difficult with young kids. I think given crazy property prices and high costs of childcare relative to pay, this attitude of presentee= good employee is a massive shortsighted tax on mothers (and the very occasional man) which keeps working mothers out of the workplace when they need and want to be there. It’s negatively affected the quality of recruitment and retention of skills at all levels of experience IME.

This is really annoying, these employers also make a big song and dance about how modern and flexible they are due to their use of tech but then they turn down good applicants

DP used to work for a massive company that made a big song and dance about being open to all this stuff.

When I wanted to get a proper job again (I had been freelancing) and was talking to him about how this was going to work, he spluttered and said that whilst it was all there on paper, it was never expected that he'd actually be able to take any of that stuff up, that if he went to the director and said that he was going to work from 10am so he could do drop-offs it would not be accepted.

It's hardly surprising. We already know that patriarchy harms men and women.
Allowing men to take shared parental leave frees women up to continue their career with less harm to it.
If taking a maternity/paternity break harms your career progress, it should be shared between both partners.
That there is resistance to this from employers is worth noting, but also not surprising, and I don't think it's a case of "it takes problems for men for this to be important".
The law has changed to allow men to share parental leave. The report shows this change isn't working as planned. Fair enough.
I'm not concerned there is no mention of women have been facing this for ages, because it's reporting the results of a report about men, so why mention women? Most readers would (should) realise this anyway.

I found this part a bit odd:
"Their response was, immediately: 'We're not going to pay you very well but we would be absolutely happy and would confidently support you in what you need to do with your family.'
Instead of 'not paying him very well' why don't they just pay him what the job's worth but pro rata - it reads like they pay their part time staff a lower FTE salary. And this is the civil service!