Asda and Tesco are among major employers committed to a new initaitve to support staff going through seperation.
Other businesses including Unilever, Metro Bank, NatWest, PwC and Vodaphone, who have a collective UK workforce of almost 600,000, have welcomed the Positive Parenting Alliance (PPA) to incorporate more family-friendly HR policies for staff going through a divorce.
The initiative looks to recognise seperation as a ‘life event’ and signpost details of available support.
This comes as new survey by the PPA shows that nine out of ten employees admit family breakdown impacted on ability to work.
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More than 74% admitted they were less efficient at work and 39% felt they had to take time off work as a result of their seperation, with over 11% having stopped work altogether.
While over half (52%) said they felt they might lose their job as a result of a separation, just 9% said they employer has specific policies or support for employees going through this.
As a result and to further raise awareness of the issue, the PPA is launching a campaign in parliament tomorrow (26 January) to call on other businesses and HR leaders to better support employees groing through separation through HR initiatives, including access to flexible working and pointing staff towards emotional counselling.
“We want to change the culture of separation in the UK, and employers can play a critical first step in offering support, signposting and role-modelling how separation can be handled in a more positive way for the benefit of all parties involved,” PPA founder, James Hayhurst said.
“The survey findings are a wake-up call for UK businesses which is why the fact that some of the country’s biggest employers have agreed to make the positive commitment to improving their HR policies is such a major step in employee benefits and wellbeing.”
Family Cost Division president, Sir Andrew McFarlane added: “Encouraging UK parents to ‘separate smarter’ is what the Parents Promise is all about and I am 100% behind the Positive Parenting Alliance in doing so.”
“The immediate emotional impact of relationship breakdown is all consuming. It hits a parent at work just as at any other time. The Positive Parenting Alliance calls for employers to recognise this impact, and to do what they can to support their employee, offers a ‘win/win’ outcome; good for employers and employees alike. Wise and insightful employers will, I hope, not need to think twice before responding positively to this call.”
