The Graduate’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.
Your employer may ask for evidence of your responsibility for a child if, for example, you are applying for parental leave. You might need to produce a birth certificate, adoption papers or other papers about legal proceedings regarding the child in order to prove this.
You do not have to tell an employer or prospective employer that you have children or that you intend to have children in the future. If the employer asks in the interview whether you are pregnant or plan to have children this is strong evidence that the employer is in breach of sex discrimination legislation.
It is up to you to decide when you want to tell your employer that you are pregnant. Legally you do not have to tell your employer until you give notice for maternity leave and pay in the 15th week before your baby is due but you will need to tell them in order to benefit from rights such as paid time off for antenatal care and health and safety protection.
If you go for a job interview you do not have to tell the employer that you are pregnant. It would be sex discrimination to refuse to employ a woman because of pregnancy. Note that you will not receive Statutory Maternity Pay if you change jobs during pregnancy but you may get Maternity Allowance instead.
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 an employer to pay you during this time although some 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. Employers have a statutory duty to consider these applications seriously. However, it does not provide an automatic right to work flexibly. There will always be instances when the employer is 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’.
For full details of any financial support available to you contact your local Jobcentre Plus. They produce a general guide to benefits available for those who are bringing up children.
Jobcentre Plus or the local Citizens’ Advice Bureau will also be able to provide you with a ‘better off’ calculation to demonstrate the effect of coming off any benefits and returning to work in either a full-time or part-time capacity.
Also ensure you are claiming any allowable Child Tax Credits.
The Guardian’s Allowance is a tax free benefit paid to someone who is looking after a child whose parents have died. In some circumstances it can be paid when only one parent has died. This is administered via the Child Benefit Office.
Yes – you will need to follow your employer's usual sickness reporting policy. You are entitled to any sick pay that your employer normally gives. Your employer should record any pregnancy-related sick leave separately from other sick leave and it should not count towards your total sickness absence for disciplinary or redundancy purposes. It is against the law for your employer to dismiss you or treat you less favourably because of your pregnancy or for having taken sick leave during your pregnancy. Your employer can only enforce your maternity leave if you are off sick for a pregnancy-related reason in the four weeks before your baby is due.
You should tell your employer that you are adopting as soon as you are approved.
You are entitled to 26 weeks standard adoption leave and 26 weeks 'additional' adoption leave if you have worked for your employer for 26 weeks by the week in which you are notified of being matched with a child for adoption. Statutory Adoption Pay will be paid for 26 weeks. You must notify your employer of the date you plan to start your leave when matched with a child. You are also entitled to parental leave and time off for dependants.
New Deal for Lone Parents is a specially designed government programme to help lone parents who want to work. If you're a lone parent who works less than 16 hours a week or not at all, and your youngest child is under 16 years old, then the programme is open to you.
If you want to find out more about New Deal for Lone Parents or arrange to see a personal adviser, call the information line on 0800 868 868, call in at your local Jobcentre Plus or see www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Customers/outofworkhelplookingforwork/Getting_job_ready/Programmes_to_get_you_ready/New_Deal/New_Deal_for_Lone_Parents/index.html.
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