Government departments need to more imaginative about the way they design jobs and advertise them, says a new report, if they are serious about reducing the gender gap in the workplace.
In "We need to talk about... hours", author Laura Dewar looks at job advertising in the civil service to see whether the equal opportunities legislation of April 2007, which requires departments to demonstrate commitment to promoting equality between men and women, is being translated into recruitment practice.
One test of this is whether it is offering jobs as available part-time, not just full-time.
The report follows proposals for radical reforms to maternity leave laws, to enable fathers to take more time off, by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
Dewar concludes that while the civil service is "capable" of being a progressive employer, with good quality part-time roles, job ads on the civil service website need to be clearer, to reflect all departments' gender equality objectives, and all posts should be available part-time, unless there's a clear business case to prevent this.
"There should be a positive message about encouraging part-time and job-sharers to apply and the mechanisms in place to show how this will work in practice," says the report.
The report, published by Working Families, which campaigns for work-life balance, says government departments should keep a tally of the jobs they have not been able to offer part-time or as a job-share, and should be more imaginative about designing jobs before posts are advertised.
"We believe this is essential to encouraging a culture that values skills and experience rather than the hours someone can work," it says.
The EHRC said the UK's laws on parental rights are lagging behind changing attitudes within families and entrench the current unequal division of labour and caring between the sexes.
We need to talk about...hours, by Laura Dewar, published 1 April by Working Families, workingfamilies.org.uk
From Bubb's Blog
From Whitehall Watch
