The Work-Life Balance and Employment Legislation
Do you work to live or live to work? David Clutterbuck describes the work-life balance as:
“Being aware of different demands on time and energy. Having the ability to make choices in the allocation of time and energy. Knowing what values to apply to choices. Making choices.”
Getting the balance right is no mean feat. Working long hours can cause a range of problems outside the working environment. Taking work home is also common across many industries. A third of partners of people who work in excess of 48 hours per week claim that this has a negative effect on personal relationships.
Getting the balance right will have advantages for you and your employers. The basic reasoning behind this is the claim that happy employees equal productive employees. There is evidence suggesting that getting the mix right between work and play can lead to better customer services, through the addition of flexible working enabling constant cover at the workplace. Happy employees are well motivated, have high levels of morale and are engaging with their daily tasks. Employers see reduced absenteeism and also recruit a more diverse workforce. Importantly, allowing flexible working to redress the work life balance promotes the organisation as an employer of choice.
Getting the work-life balance right is not just about cutting the hours worked in the average week. Employers have a range of tools available to them. These include the introduction of part-time working, job sharing, home working, term-time-only working, annualised hours, nine-day fortnights, career breaks for carers, sabbaticals, study leave and/or secondments.
When it comes to the work-life balance and the law, a great deal of protection is provided by EU directives. Much of the existing laws were changed in 2003. As general employment law stands, as published by the CIPD:
- Annual leave . All employees are entitled to a minimum of 20 days paid annual holiday.
- Working time . The working week is limited to 48 hours, averaged over 17 weeks, for employees who have not ‘opted out’. The Working Time Regulations also provide for minimum rest periods and make special provision for night work.
- Parental leave . There is a right to 13 weeks unpaid parental leave for men and women at any time up to the child’s fifth birthday. This must be taken in blocks or multiples of one week, with 21 days notice given to the employer.
- Time off for dependant care . The right to take unpaid time off to deal with family emergencies (eg concerning an elderly parent, partner, child or other person living as part of the family).
- Maternity leave . All women whose babies are expected after 1 April 2007 are entitled to 26 weeks maternity leave, plus an extra 26 weeks additional maternity leave, making 52 weeks in total. (Women whose babies were expected before 1 April 2007 are entitled to 26 weeks maternity leave. Employees who qualified were entitled to an extra 26 weeks additional maternity leave, making 52 weeks in total.)
- Paternity leave . Fathers are entitled to 2 weeks paid paternity leave, which can be taken as a single block of one or two weeks within the 56 days following the child's birth.
- Adoption leave . Employees adopting a child are entitled to 26 weeks ordinary adoption leave and 26 weeks additional adoption leave. Only one parent may take adoption leave: if they qualify, the other parent may take paternity leave.
- Right to request flexible working . Employees with children under age 6 (under age 18 if disabled) and those with caring responsibilities for adults including those with elderly or disabled relatives can request a change in their hours, time or place of work. The employer can refuse such a request on specified business grounds but must follow a detailed procedure.
- Part-time work . Part-timers are entitled to the same hourly rate of pay and the same entitlements to annual leave and maternity/parental leave as full-timers but on a pro rata basis. Part-timers must also have the same entitlement to contractual sick pay and no less favourable treatment in access to training.
- Detriment . An employer cannot subject an employee to a detriment because they attempted to exercise their rights to work flexibly or take maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave. Employees who suffer unfair treatment at work for these reasons may make a separate complaint to an employment tribunal as well as any discrimination or constructive unfair dismissal claim.
The forthcoming provisions include:
- Annual leave . Public holidays will become additional to the four weeks paid annual leave. According to the current draft legislation, the current 20-day entitlement will probably increase to 24 days on 1 October 2007 and to 28 days on 1 October 2008.
- Maternity, paternity and adoption leave. Further changes include: further extending the 39 weeks statutory maternity pay to 52 weeks; similar changes for adoption leave; and provisions for additional paternity leave in the 12 months following the birth or adoption of a child. The father figure (that is the child's father or the mother's partner with parental responsibilities) will qualify for additional paternity pay if the mother returns to work before her SMP, MA or SAP period expires.
Click here to order and receive a full no obligation information pack.