Working fathers are more likely to have their requests to work flexibly turned down by their employers, a study has suggested.
A new report from the Trades Union Congress reveals that bosses look more favourably upon flexible working requests from female members of staff.
The research shows that in the first two years since workers with children under six gained the right to request to work flexibly, only 10% of women employees have had their flexible working requests rejected, while 14% of men have been turned down.
What’s more, only a handful of workers who have their requests rejected ever take their employer to an employment tribunal, and claims submitted by men are much less likely to be successful.
The TUC’s analysis of employment tribunal figures found that male claimants account for just over a quarter of flexible working tribunal claims but for nearly half of cases that were lost, ruled out on procedural grounds or dismissed.
The TUC’s general secretary Brendan Barber suggests that this disparity is not only hurting male employees, but women, as well.
“By accepting flexible work requests from their female employees but not from their male staff, employers are helping reinforce the gender pay gap, when instead they could be enabling young dads to play a more active role in the raising of their children,” Barber said.
The TUC claims that employers’ reluctance to let male employees change their hours after becoming parents reinforces the idea that the mother must reduce her hours and juggle childcare and work when her children are young.
As a result, women end up paying a part-time pay penalty, the report argues, and will often be in a job below their skill potential. They are also losing out in terms of future pension payouts because of the time they have spent out of the labour market.
Fathers, meanwhile, are forced to work longer hours to compensate for the loss of family income, as their partners switch to part time working, the report says.
However, the study also reveals that men, when they approach their bosses about working flexibly, are less likely to consider changing their hours.
Just 10% of male employees have discussed changing their working hours, according to the research, compared to 19% of women during the same period.
