MP Yasmin Qureshi explains why she’s pushing for change when it comes to flexible working arrangements.
. As a society, we saw the benefits of working compressed hours, jobshares, new shift patterns or from home, all at a time when our ‘norm’ was upended. This interim status quo gave unpaid carers, women, disabled people and new parents the chance toBut now, we’re seeing a slide back to the old way of doing things, with calls for workers to return to the office and lingering ideas that changes to the norm are ‘lazy’ or lesser. We cannot let this happen.
Analysis from the Trades Union Congress found that a lack of good flexible working opportunities, coupled with the unequal division of caring responsibilities, can force women into working arrangements that result in loss of pay and poorer working conditions. Unpaid carers, usually women, who often give as many hours supporting a family member as they do to their full-time job, have also felt the benefits of flexible working. They can work from a family member’s home, at hours that suit them, or from their own home, allowing them to better balance work and caring. They can provide breakfast, lunch and tea visits to that family member without it impacting their productivity and ability to innovate, all while improving their wellbeing.
A recent trial of a four-day working week was an overwhelming success, so much so that 56 of the 61 involved in the trial extended it further for their staff. Of the 2,900 employees who took part in the pilot, 39% said they were less stressed, 40% were sleeping better and 54% said it was easier to balance work and home responsibilities. The number of sick days taken during the trial fell by two-thirds and 57% fewer staff left the firms taking part compared with the same period a year earlier.
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