Mothers ‘failing to take advantage of flexible working’

Many women in the UK are not taking advantage of flexible working opportunities because they are failing to ask their bosses, it has been found.

According to a study undertaken by WorkingMums.co.uk, although 83 per cent of mothers wanted an employer’s acceptance of flexible working upon their return from maternity leave, only 53 per cent had brought up the issue with managers.

This is despite the fact that 57 per cent of mothers who discussed such working with their employers had either got what they wanted or had come to a compromise.

Meanwhile, more than 72 per cent felt that a lack of appropriate and available flexible jobs is the biggest barrier to returning to work after having children.

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“There remains a large number of women who continue to be unaware of their rights to work flexibly or unable to discuss this with their employers,” stated Gillian Nissim, founder of WorkingMums.co.uk.

Earlier this year, Caroline Waters, director of employment policy at BT, stated that putting in place flexible working practices allows firms to attract and retain the best personnel.