From January 2013 cuts in child benefit came into effect with higher rate earners losing the weekly hand out from the state.

Those who lose the benefit are only those employees in the 40% tax bracket and above but aside from the argument of whether they are most able to afford the cut, it is worth looking at the broader picture facing working parents as 2013 looks to be another tough year for living standards.

The main areas of concern for working parents are finance, childcare provision and managing work/life balance. Of course finding childcare, paying for it, the issue of work/life balance and planning family finances are not the job of the employer but organisations can help as these issues can take the employee?s attention away from their jobs.

Distracted and stressed employees are less likely to perform and more likely to be ill so providing help is a question of common sense.

What can your organisation do to help? Working parents make up a large proportion of the workforce; however, employers who offer flexible working practices across the workforce are more likely to attract and retain employees.

Work/life balance

Work/life balance is of course an important element here. The rise of families that need two incomes to make ends meet is growing. This brings pressure on time and the difficulty of needing to juggle work and home timetables between parents and children, which rarely seem to be in sync.

Many workers feel a lack of support from their employers when it comes to managing work and family life. This is an issue for men too who are increasingly taking an equal role in childcare as well as women.

Other employees such as those caring for an elderly relative may have difficulty juggling work and home commitments too.

HERE ARE SOME PRACTICAL TIPS

Organisations of all sizes can do this and ensure all their working parents can benefit from the tax and NI exemption. This saves money and even companies with fewer than five employees can benefit from the scheme.

95% of working parents could benefit from childcare vouchers which are for older children too and can save on any activities that take place outside of school hours and on school premises such as sports clubs and music lessons.

Childcare voucher schemes along with flexible benefit schemes can help parents with the financial support they need to help stretch their wages further each month but what is also needed is for employers to think about how good HR policy, including flexible working, changes to shift patterns and homeworking can be formal benefits that deliver real support for parents across the workforce.

If you would like advice or further guidance on encouraging employee well-being to improve the working environment we would be happy to assist you.

Flexible Working

Thinking about more flexible shift/work patterns or contract hours can help parents work around their childcare arrangements which can make a huge difference to the impact of childcare costs.

Flexible working for all employees

It is of course not just working parents that we need to think about when it comes to flexible working. Many companies need the flexibility to adjust their workforce to changing levels of business and also need to consider other personal circumstances that employees have to deal with.

With pay rises scarce and bonus pools down, flexible working is a great way to thank and engage staff. There is huge goodwill to be gained from accommodating flexible working requests.

A buddy up system could be an option whereby two employees organise cover for each other at times when they need time off or need to start work earlier/later. There may be times when the working parent can flex to support other colleagues, for example, an employee needs time to go to a school sports day which can be covered by a colleague and the cover is then reciprocated when the other employee needs to take time off.

If an employee puts in a request to work flexibly under the statutory right (for those with children or those who are carers) you must consider the requests properly and can only refuse a request on certain business-related grounds.

Flexible working practices may include:

• Part-time working: work is generally considered part-time when employers are contracted to work anything less than full-time hours.

• Term-time working: a worker remains on a permanent contract but takes leave during school holidays.

• Job-sharing: a form of part-time working where two (or occasionally more) people share the  responsibility for a job between them.

• Flexitime: allows employees to choose, within certain set limits, when to begin and end periods of work.

• Annual hours: the period within which full-time employees must work is defined over a whole year to allow for peaks and troughs in the business.

• Career breaks: career breaks, or sabbaticals, are extended periods of leave ? normally unpaid ? of up to five years or more.

What challenges could our Company encounter implementing these practices?

The kind of challenges you might face include:

•   Overcoming concerns about operational pressures and meeting customer requirements

•   How to manage flexible working practices effectively

•   Current attitudes toward flexible working and the existing organisational culture

•   A lack of support at various management levels

TOP TIPS

The following tips can help effective implementation:

• Ensure that there are clear roles and responsibilities for employees and managers

• Assess the current levels of support offered to managers and ensure it is sufficient

• Assess how conducive your organisation culture is to flexible working arrangements and take action accordingly

• Make use of pilots (when introducing new initiatives) and trial periods (for individual working arrangements) in order to highlight potential problems

• Build in opportunities and mechanisms to monitor and evaluate progress

• Draft agreements carefully and if in doubt seek advice

• Familiarise yourself with the rights of employees and workers

• Beware of offering regular casual work as this could lead to an employment relationship arising

• If you agree to flexible working arrangements remember that you will need to amend terms and conditions of employment

• Consider any flexible working requests according to the statutory requirements

Talk to your employees

The most effective way of supporting employees is to talk to them directly to find out their needs.
It is all too easy to assume that employees want a certain thing but everyone is different and family needs are different too. It may be that from listening to your employees you can simply tweak an existing arrangement or find a solution that works for everyone.

Employers who recognise the issues facing employees with work/life balance and solve them with new ways of thinking which combine HR policy and benefits will make a real difference to their employees.

Thinking about more flexible shift/work patterns or contract hours can help parents work around their childcare arrangements which can make a huge difference to the impact of childcare costs.

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