Supporting working parents during lockdown

We’re at the end of the second week of getting back into home-schooling (if you discount the one day that most primary school children returned to the classroom). For some reason, it feels harder than first time around – perhaps because we’ve done it before there’s the expectation that we know what we’re doing, or because the initial burst of adrenaline at the start of the first lockdown has long disappeared, or maybe it's the darker winter days. 

However, there are things that we can do as employers and HR professionals to make life easier for team members who are juggling a busy job alongside caring for and supporting the education of their children, our future workforce. 

Research by Working Families found that one in five working parents felt they had been treated less fairly at work because of their childcare responsibilities since the onset of COVID-19. So this is an area where we must think of ways in which we could do better.

Promote Flexible Furlough

Flexible furlough is a great option to make the balancing act easier and something which many workers are not aware they are entitled to. Talk to your teams, whether they are working onsite or home-based, about how they are coping if their children are at home during lockdown. Even if they are going onsite (assuming they are not key workers and still able to access a school place), using flexible furlough to give them a later start time or earlier finish could help them to support their family. You don’t necessarily need to furlough someone full-time. 

A survey conducted by TUC during the current lockdown suggests that nearly three-quarters of working mums have had their furlough leave requests refused. Whether this is down to employers not understanding the latest rules, or a lack of flexibility is unclear. 

To clarify, an employer can claim furlough pay through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme as follows:

• To cover absences relating to the wider impact of the pandemic such as caring responsibilities when schools are closed, caring for vulnerable people or when self-shielding, even if your business is not closed and trade is not down due to the pandemic (note there are some restrictions for publicly funded organisations). 
• It doesn’t matter whether or not the employee has been furloughed before or whether the business accessed the furlough scheme previously (this rule changed on 31st October 2020). But the employee must have been on payroll by no later than 30th October 2020. 
• The government cover wage costs up to 80% of usual pay (capped at ￡2500) and the employer covers pension and employers NI. You need to confirm the furlough arrangements in writing, including that the employee will receive 80% of their usual pay whilst on furlough and must not access work systems during this time.

 This issue affects both men and women

It’s vital that we don’t see this is an issue only affecting working mums, otherwise we risk taking a massive step backwards for gender equality at work and placing a unequal emotional, mental and financial strain on working mums. 

We should encourage working dads that it’s OK to take furlough leave during lockdown, at least on a part-time basis, to share the responsibility of home-schooling and reduce stress levels in busy households. Trying to check on children’s progress in few spare moments between back-to-back conference calls is unlikely to be sustainable for weeks on end and will probably just make a difficult situation more fraught - especially when there's a simple and cost-effective solution ready and waiting to be used with the furlough scheme.

If furlough is not an option, what choices are there?

You may have employees who joined your team who are not eligible for furlough because they have joined your team since October. Alternatives to furlough include:

• Emergency time off for dependents: gives all workers the right to unpaid leave in unexpected situations, such as childcare falling through or school closures. 
• Flexible working: try to be as flexible as possible and confirm short-term arrangements in writing (but be aware of burnout – simply allowing staff to do their full hours outside of the usual working day alongside home-schooling is not sustainable for weeks on end. A more realistic scenario may include negotiating a temporary reduction in working hours).
• “Lockdown leave” – insurance firm Zurich made the headlines by offering its working parents two weeks of fully paid leave during this lockdown. This may not be affordable for smaller businesses, but illustrates how firms can come up with new ideas to support their workforce.
• Parental leave: Parents are entitled to 18 weeks unpaid leave per child which can be taken in blocks of at least one week. There is usually a maximum cap of 4 weeks parental leave in one year, unless the employer agrees otherwise. Employees have the right to return to their job at the end of this leave. The 18 weeks of leave is the total an employee can take across all the employments they hold during their child's first 18 years. It is not automatically available until the employee has 1 year's service - however you could agree for an employee with shorter service to take this leave given the highly unusual circumstances, providing you give the same option to others.

You may feel furlough is inappropriate for your business because you need the team members to be working their full hours to keep operating. If this applies to you, think carefully and consider if there are any other potential solutions, especially if you are not in a key-worker sector. You could be risking pushing your employees into a situation where they feel they can no longer cope and have to make a critical decision between work and family. Do you want to risk losing a valued team member over this?

Similarly, employees may either be unaware of the options available to them, or hesitant about requesting time off to look after their children in case it reflects badly on them. Do spend time talking to your team members and reassuring them that they would not be judged negatively for taking steps to look after their families during this challenging period. 

Be realistic

In all of the above scenarios, it is important to be realistic and reset expectations. This may include being more flexible around deadlines, re-prioritising tasks and listening to any concerns your team members may have. 

The current situation presents an opportunity for employers to stand out, to do the right thing and to build loyalty by demonstrating to their workforce that they are on their side. If you go above and beyond for your team, your team are more likely to go above and beyond for your customers.

Be kind

Above all, be kind - whether that's being kind to yourself, and/or being kind to those around you who are juggling additional responsibilities during an already stressful time. 

If you would like to talk through any of these options and how they may work for your team, get in touch on [email protected] or 01249 701486.