Flexible working for parents
By Sue Mennell (02-05-2008)
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Research carried out by Citrix Online shows that flexible working is rated the most valuable company benefit by 54 per cent of working mothers who value it above a pension, annual bonus or health insurance, and by 87 per cent of working fathers who are keen to avoid the daily commute.
Companies cite the key business benefits as increased employee satisfaction (66 per cent), increased staff retention (58 per cent) and providing a work-life balance for parents (48 per cent). Just 13 per cent of companies are concerned that work would suffer and less than a third are worried about the costs of flexible working.
Parents say flexible working makes a significant positive difference to families in the first year of a child’s life, but are less keen on government proposals to extend maternity leave. Almost half of all parents believe taking extended maternity leave will have a negative impact on their careers.
Denise Tyler, founder of Mother@Work (www.motheratwork.co.uk), said: “Working parents worry about the affect that having children will have on their career aspirations, so it is promising to see that businesses are recognising the benefits of flexible working and introducing options that will really help employees.”
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