Family friendly benefits

23rd June 2015

Workers in companies with fewer than 100 staff are losing out on a number of family-friendly benefits to which they are entitled by law, such as parental leave, according to a survey carried out for business information specialists Croner.

YouGov surveyed 1175 working adults on Croner’s behalf and found that micro firms (one to 10 employees) had the worst record, with 33% apparently not offering any family-friendly measures.
Those with 11 to 50 staff were almost as bad (29%) as were those with 51 to 100 employees (27%).

This is despite the fact that, under current legislation, employees have a number of rights in relation to maternity & paternity leave and pay, leave and pay for adoptive parents, parental leave and the right to request flexible working.

Its surprising to find that a large number of employers does not offer any family-friendly measures, even though under UK employment law they are entitled to them.

This could be put down to the fact that SMEs employing less than 100 employees tend not to have a dedicated and suitably qualified person to manage HR.
Managing this can become an added responsibility for someone with a lower awareness of employee rights and employers’ obligations, such as a line manager or business owner.

Although this seems to be the case such a lack of awareness or knowledge will not give an employer protection in a tribunal. Therefore Croner’s advice to small business bosses is that they should equip themselves or their line managers with the necessary training and support to deal competently and confidently with HR issues and rights.”

If in any doubt, contact us to find out more.