Today’s UK Observer newspaper had an article about work-life balance for Dad’s.
According to the article by Richard Reeves, requests for flexible working are more likely to be turned down when they come from men.
This certainly doesn’t surprise me. Only yesterday I wrote on my other blog that I was having trouble with one-off requests to work from home – I don’t imagine a formal request to do this on a weekly basis will be any easier.
There is a fondness in the media (Richard’s article excepted) to focus on Dad’s wanting longer paternity leave. To me that misses the point. It’s how to make things work when the breadwinner (Dad or Mum) get back to work – flexible hours, working from home, compressed working weeks – these are the things that make a work-life balance achievable.
If that balance is achieved, employees are more likely to stay with their employer or business – this is the point most companies still don’t get.
