Nearly three-quarters  of working mums who have applied for furlough following the latest school closures have had their requests turned down, according to a new TUC survey carried out in the past week and published today.

The job retention scheme currently allows bosses to furlough parents who can’t work due to a lack of childcare.

But the TUC says many mums are missing out on this financial lifeline as the scheme is not promoted to parents.

The union body is also concerned some employers are refusing to furlough those who request it, leaving mums in an impossible situation where they are forced to reduce their hours at work, take unpaid leave and annual leave to cope, or leave their job altogether.

The TUC says that the UK’s inadequate system of parental leave and woefully low level of sick pay is leaving parents in impossible situations, where they risk losing their job or facing a catastrophic loss of income.

To support these workers, the TUC is calling on ministers to introduce a temporary right to furlough for groups who cannot work because of coronavirus restrictions – both parents and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable and required to shield. And ministers should clarify that furlough can be used by both private and public sector employers for these purposes.

The union body says employers should first explore with parents and those shielding whether other measures – such as offering additional paid leave, changes to working hours or other flexibilities like working from home, and offering alternative work – could help the worker balance their responsibilities, but that as a last resort, workers should have the right to be furloughed.

Ministers should encourage employers to use the furlough scheme for parents and those shielding where other arrangements cannot be made, and run a major advertising campaign so that parents and shielders understand that they can use furlough.

The TUC says this situation results from the UK’s failure to help families balance paid work and childcare. Alongside a temporary right to furlough, it is calling on the government to introduce ten days’ paid carers leave, from day one in a job, for all parents. Currently parents have no statutory right to paid leave to look after their children.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The safety of school staff and children must always come first. But the government’s lack of support for working parents is causing huge financial hardship and stress – and hitting low-paid mums and single parents hardest.

“Just like in the first lockdown, mums are shouldering the majority of childcare. Tens of thousands of mums have told us they are despairing. It’s neither possible nor sustainable for them to work as normal, while looking after their children and supervising schoolwork.

“Making staff take weeks of unpaid leave isn’t the answer. Bosses must do the right thing and offer maximum flexibility to mums and dads who can’t work because of childcare. And as a last resort, parents must have a temporary right to be furloughed where their boss will not agree.

“The UK’s parental leave system is one of the worst in Europe. It’s time for the government to give all parents the right to work flexibly, plus at least ten days’ paid carers leave each year.”

Founder of Mother Pukka Anna Whitehouse said: “What working parents have been tasked with in lockdown is not humanly possible. You’re looking at an average eight hour working day, six hour school day, 12 hours of parenting wrapped around that – that’s 26 hours in a 24 hour day. And I’m hearing daily from women who are stepping back, standing down and logging off because they’re burning out.

“Some are quitting out of choice, many not. Because who looks after kids home-schooling? Who looks after pandemic patients when out of hospital? Who takes a Tesco shop to elderly neighbours? Who runs community What’s App groups making sure everyone has everything they need?

“This unpaid labour is mainly strapped to female shoulders because – for all the International Women’s Days Sellotaped together – that’s the current working world we live in.

“One thing that can change right now is seeing the Government supporting all businesses to enable them to offer a much more flexible solution and furlough. The system needs to step up for parents before we step back to the 1950s.”

 

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