The Employer’s Perspective
A single parent is a parent with one or more children who is widowed, divorced or separated or is a single person bringing up children. According to the Office for National Statistics (2003), almost one in four British families are lone parent families.
You may require evidence of an employee having responsibility for a child if, for example, they are applying for parental leave. This could take the form of a birth certificate, adoption papers or other papers about legal proceedings regarding the child in order to prove this.
An employee or prospective employee does not have to tell you that they have children or that they intend to have children in the future. If you are inclined to ask in an interview whether a candidate is pregnant or planning to have children this is likely to be in breach of sex discrimination legislation. It would also be sex discrimination to refuse to employ a woman because of pregnancy.
Legally, an employee must give notice for maternity leave and pay in the 15th week before the baby is due. However, you are likely to be notified earlier than this in order that the employee can benefit from rights such as paid time off for antenatal care and health and safety protection.
Single parents are not a recent phenomenon – during the last century the percentage of single parents remained fairly constant. The major change is the cause of single parenthood. In 1900 most single parent families occurred through the death of a parent. Nowadays they are often caused by divorce.
The area of employment rights is complicated and no two sets of circumstances will be the same. If you are unsure if certain rights apply to your situation you should contact a specialist adviser – see the resources section for details.
Parental leave is a right for both mothers and fathers to take time off work to look after a child. As parental leave is unpaid, there is no legal obligation for you to pay an employee during this time although some employers may continue to do so.
All employees also have the right to ‘reasonable’ time off work to assist family members or those who are dependant on them for assistance in an emergency. Only sufficient time to sort out the immediate problem may be taken – the definition of ‘reasonable’ in this context has not been defined in law.
Parents of children under six years old or disabled children under 18 years old have the right to apply to work flexibly. As an employer, you have a statutory duty to consider these applications seriously. However, it does not provide an automatic right for employees to work flexibly as there will always be instances when you are not able to accommodate the preferred work pattern of the employee.
The business benefits of flexible working are now widely recognised. There is clear evidence that both turnover and absenteeism are reduced and that motivation and commitment are improved in organisations employing people who are able to work flexibly by agreement. Improved working patterns and conditions can be a good way of attracting and retaining a diverse workforce.
For full details see the comprehensive guide ‘Flexible Working – the right to request and the duty to consider: guidance for employers and employees’.
Basing employment decisions on the grounds of ability and employing a diverse workforce:
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