A shocking 69% of UK business owners believe that when it comes to recruiting staff, discrimination takes place against young females believed to be considering starting a family. 66% of female and 71% of male bosses admit that it happens, according to the 2005 Sage Heartbeat Survey, an ongoing study into the ups and downs of business life in the UK.
The worst culprits are in the East Midlands (73% say it happens), followed by the South West of England (70%) and South East (71%). Scotland and the North-East of England come out “best” at 63 percent and 65 percent respectively.
The results also show how government-inspired family-friendly policies are failing to bring about a change in mentality. A third of male bosses - and a quarter of their female equivalents - do not think it is right that fathers should be able to elect to take part of their partner’s maternity leave. Furthermore, a total of 61% of respondents, more than half of men (65%) and women (53%), say the government should not extend family-friendly policies any further.
Despite the strong views expressed in the survey, it would appear that many bosses are unfamiliar with basic statutory rights, with a fifth of company bosses admitting that they “don’t know” how much paternity leave they must give employees.
After issues highlighted in last year's Sage Heartbeat Survey, Sage HR Advice, a service providing customers with a detailed human resource and employment law website and access to qualified professionals, was introduced. Sage has now expanded its business advice service with the launch of Sage Health and Safety Advice.
The legally reliable services translate employment and health and safety law into plain English and promote best practice. In addition to a comprehensive website giving advice and document templates, the guidance includes email alerts, monthly newsletters, FAQs, telephone and email support to ensure that companies remain compliant. As part of its commitment to the health of UK business and to coincide with the release of the 2005 Sage Heartbeat survey, Sage has set up an HR and Health and Safety information line on 0845 245 0268. Further information is also available at http://www.sagepresscentre.co.uk/heartbeat/sageadvice.
According to Jo Ray, Managing Director, Small Business Division, Sage (UK) Ltd, “Sage has been working with SMEs for 24 years and through our customer base of over 600,000 small businesses we understand the issues they face. Everything we do is aimed at helping business owners save time and money so they can focus on what they set out to do. While these findings are concerning, they show more than ever that businesses need help in dealing with the multitude of issues that they face in the UK.”
“Human resources, whether it be recruitment, employee motivation or compliance is vital to any business. However, many small business owners do not have access to reliable, practical advice. Sage’s HR and Health and Safety Advice services provide exactly that – they will help protect and grow your business, pre-empt issues before they occur and save time and money. The services are further evidence of Sage’s commitment to providing SMEs not only with the best business management software but also with outstanding customer support and advisory services.”
70% of the UK’s bosses agree that flexible working and leave entitlement is adding considerably to cost of doing business. There is broad regional consensus that: “the government should provide businesses with more financial help than it currently does to cover the costs associated with parental leave”. London comes out top when the bosses were asked if it is right that fathers should be able to elect to take part of their partner’s maternity leave. 59% of London bosses agreed with that, against only 46% in both the East of England region and Yorkshire. Overall, 30% of business owners do not agree with fathers taking their partner's maternity leave. Less than half (48%) of men agree that they should be able to take their partners' maternity leave; 59% of women think that men should take partners leave.
"Most entrepreneurs fully understand the reasons behind the introduction of family-friendly legislation," says Duncan Cheatle, the founder of entrepreneurial networking group The Supper Club, "and are not averse to them in principle. It's often not a question of money, more that if the business is three people and two of them go off to have a baby, that's the end of the business." With the entrepreneur taking all the risk, Cheatle feels that there needs to be more understanding from government, and a more lenient approach towards small firms when it comes to questions of maternity and paternity rights.“