Plea to Government over flexible working hours
The Government must improve statutory leave entitlements for working parents and carers to create a more flexible work environment, it was urged today.
Niall Crowley, chief executive of the Equality Authority, said more attention must be paid to work-life balance issues to maintain employee well-being as well as promoting good business performance.
“More and more couples with children are both working. Carers, people with disabilities and migrant workers are increasingly present in the Irish workplace,” Mr Crowley said.
“We need to improve statutory leave entitlements for parents and carers. We need to stimulate and support a greater workplace commitment to flexibility.”
Mr Crowley said the situation could be improved by placing a requirement on employers to make reasonable accommodation for the special needs of employees under grounds covered by equality legislation.
Enterprise Minister Micheal Martin, told the National Framework Committee for Work-Life Balance seminar, that employees must consider offering flexible working hours to staff.
At the Cork conference, he said: “Work-life balance is not just about limiting the number of hours spent at work. It is also about giving people a degree of autonomy as to how their working time is managed.
“Where agreed flexible working arrangements are in place a win-win situation can exist for employers and employees with tangible benefits for all.”
The committee, which is run under the Sustaining Progress agreement, is aimed at supporting the development of family friendly policies through enterprise.
Members of Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC), Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), the Equality Authority and Government Departments are part of the committee, which has held three regional seminars to explore the issue around the country.
The committee is examining the best ways to improve access to family friendly working arrangements while creating many benefits for both employers and workers.
The benefits of improving the work-life balance were highlighted to business leaders through two case studies showing the benefits for workers and employers.
Donagh Corcoran, IBEC’s Regional Director in Cork, warned higher employment levels in the future would create challenges for the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities.
He said: “In Ireland, Government, the business community and society as a whole will have to prepare for the challenges ahead by making choices now and identifying key priorities if we are to be ready for the changes that will result.”
Sally Anne Kinahan from ICTU said changes must be made in the working environment to reflect the dramatic changes in work and lifestyles over the last decade.
She added: “Working people now face the strain of longer commuting times and ongoing problems with regard to childcare.
“Given these pressures and constraints, Congress believes that it is time to introduce a statutory Right to Flexible Working. In other words, to give legislative underpinning to that which so many working people require in order to properly balance work and family life.”
