IN THE NEWS ~ SURVEY SUMMARIES
In January 2007, two thirds of women with dependent children and 55% with children under 5 are now in employment. In April 2008 parents with children younger than 5 and those with caring responsibilities for adults have the right to request flexible working – Chartered Management Institute.
The ICAS Workplace Practice on Maternity and Retention Annual Survey 2007 found that 20% of public sector respondents believe that their return rate is a source of concern and that the effectiveness of line managers in dealing with maternity related issues is being questioned.
The average cost to replace an employee is between £8,200 and £12,000 according to the CIPD. This does not take into account the cost of interruption and loss of knowledge. The report goes on to say that the unemployment of women costs taxpayers about £28 billion a year compared to a cost of £8 billion for disabled people.
A report by the Equal Opportunities Commission in 2007 said that only 10% of directors of the UK's FTSE 100 firms were women, while fewer than 20% of people in parliament were female. The commission calculated that to begin redressing the imbalance, a further 6,000 women should be in top positions. It added that to counter the discrepancy between men and women in top roles, everyone should have the right to request flexible working and more high-quality, well-paid flexible and part-time work needs to be available.
