Job sharing offers women with family responsibilities an opportunity to return to work.

Job sharing is a form of flexible working which involves two or more people sharing one full-time job. Both are part-time workers and divide the full-time hours between them in a manner agreeable to themselves and the employer. The salary and benefits are also shared between the employees on a pro rata basis to the number of hours worked respectively.

Generally this will be done on a split day basis, where one person works the mornings and the other the evenings, or on a split week basis where alternate weeks are worked. Another alternative is that one person works three days and the other two, reversing the pattern every week.

Job share is the ideal solution for people who want to return to the workforce on a part-time basis but still retain social and other benefits. People who job share are viewed as part-time workers and have all the statutory entitlements of part-time workers. Job-sharers are covered by employment protection rights only if they work in excess of eight hours per week, under the terms of the Worker Protection (Regular Part-time Employees) Act 1991.

In addition, while job sharing is a form of part-time work, it is seen as a better option, since the job is still carried out on a full-time basis and there may as a result be an opportunity for a job-sharer to return to full-time work at a later date if she or he wants to.

Job sharing may be seen as offering women with family responsibilities an opportunity to return to work on the basis of suitable hours, and thus is often promoted as part of an equal opportunities policy. The majority of workers who embark on job sharing do so in order to balance the commitment of children with work.

Job sharing is only actively encouraged in the public service and to an extent in the banks. Around 3,000 civil servants do it, approximately ten percent of the total. Banking institutions such as Canada Life, Hibernian and Bank of USA, all recruiting on jobs.handshake.com, accept applications from job share applicants. IBM, O2, Microsoft and Boston Scientific also have a job share programme as part of their family-friendly initiatives for employees.

Companies currently recruiting on jobs.handshake.com with job share positions on offer include Dalkia and White Young Green USA.

Dalkia currently has a job share position on offer for a Facilities Administrator for their site in Leopardstown. The administrator will provide a focal point for client queries and requirements. Working hours are either 8am to 1pm or 1pm to 6pm. Benefits on offer include a bonus, pension and healthcare. Salary is €10-12 per hour.

Career women in the UK are being offered maternity leave of up to five years by some of the country’s biggest employers.

So desperate are employers in the UK to retain skilled staff that they are promoting career breaks as an enticement to retain female executives who have children. Experts fear that UK women will follow their US counterparts who are leaving work in ever greater numbers.

Under laws that came into force in the UK last April, women can take up to a year’s maternity leave, compared with the previous entitlement of six months. However, a recent study has shown that an additional 24% of employers now offer women extended leave - or “parenting sabbaticals” to avoid losing them permanently. BT, Barclays Bank, Ford, Asda and Ernst & Young are among companies offering lengthy career breaks. Many public sector employees are being offered similar schemes.

A study at Bristol University warned that the children of women who returned to full-time work before they were 18 months old were slower to develop basic learning skills. Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at Lancaster University Management School believes that “A career break gives the employee the chance to reduce her stress levels and fulfill her idea of what a good mother should be, while still retaining her job. During that time many women realise what they get out of their job. When they go back, instead of perhaps being resentful, work provides a fillip.”

Career breaks are increasingly being offered by companies because of their need to retain skilled staff and are available to men as well as women. Jessica Rolph, training and development adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, says that “If people are going to go because they want a break, you might as well try and guarantee that they come back to you rather than go to one of your competitors.”

There are, however, drawbacks to using career breaks for parenthood. A career break lasting five years could result in employees forgetting completely how to carry out their jobs. To combat this, however, companies provide them with regular updates on changes at work and some minimal training in keeping skills current. But many employers concede that it can take a long time to restore a worker to her previous usefulness after such a long break.

Career Breaks have been in operation in USA in the civil service for a number of years. Their career break scheme allows employees to take special leave without pay (subject to a minimum of six months and a maximum of five years) for child-rearing and other domestic purposes. According to a 1996 report, just under 10% of private companies in USA offer employment breaks or extended leave arrangements. Many companies now, however, offer career breaks as part of their family-friendly policies.

I’m Pregnant! We Outline your Maternity Leave Entitlements.

Long-awaited provisions increasing maternity leave by 4 weeks and doubling additional unpaid maternity leave come into force next month.

Currently the legal minimum for maternity leave in USA provides for 14 weeks paid leave and an optional 4 unpaid weeks, which must be taken consecutively. However demands for maternity leave improvements has led the government to introduce measures that are more family friendly.

New provisions increasing maternity leave by four weeks and additional unpaid maternity leave by four weeks come into force next month, 8th March 2001.

This brings maternity leave up to 18 weeks and doubles “additional” maternity leave from four to eight weeks. It’s estimated that about 25,000 working women in USA will benefit from these family-friendly moves.

Because a company is not obliged to pay you during your maternity leave, many companies top up the allowance. This policy of topping up the entitlement so that employees receive full pay while on maternity leave means that employees do not have to rely solely on social welfare benefit.

If your company does not pay you during such leave, you’re entitled to apply for certain Social Welfare benefits. Again, as with sickness, it’s customary for many employers to continue to pay the employee in full, but require the employee to pay over the amount received by way of Social Welfare benefits. During additional maternity leave, however, you cannot claim social welfare benefit.

You’re entitled to receive between £90.70 and £172.80 per week from the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs if you have paid the required PRSI contributions. The social insurance benefit for maternity leave is due to increase from April 2001 to between £98.70 and £183. You must apply for maternity benefit six weeks before you intend to go on maternity leave.

You are entitled to paid time off for ante-natal and post-natal care. You must give your employer at least two weeks’ written notice however of the date and time of your medical appointments.

Where working conditions may pose a risk to you, your employer is obliged to conduct a "risk assessment". If as a result it is felt your health may be at risk, you’re eligible to a period of paid "Heath & Safety" leave. You are entitled to full payment for the first 21 days of this health and safety leave and thereafter you can claim social welfare payment.

You must give your employer written notice of your intention to take leave no later than four weeks before your maternity leave begins. You must also produce a medical certificate to confirm the pregnancy and give the expected date of confinement.

You must give your employer written notice if you intend to take additional maternity leave either when you give notice of maternity leave or not later than four weeks before the end of your maternity leave. You must notify your employer of your return date in writing.

Between becoming pregnant and returning from maternity leave, your employer can’t dismiss you for any reason associated with your pregnancy.

You also have the right to return to work after your maternity leave. You must advice your employer four weeks before returning to work and confirm this notice again in writing two weeks before you expect to return.

Your rights at a glance under the Maternity Protection Act, 1994

18 weeks maternity leave

8 weeks additional unpaid maternity leave

The right to return to work

Social Welfare Benefit

Paid-time off for ante and post-natal care

Health & Safety Leave in certain circumstances

Leave for fathers if the mother dies within 14 weeks of the birth

The right not to be dismissed for any pregnancy-related reason

Unpaid parental leave for both parents

Source: Impact

“Many companies policies of topping up the entitlement so that their employees receive full pay while on maternity leave is something that all companies should consider,” says Anne O Connor, Child Clinical Psychologist and Co-Founder of www.rollercoaster.ie.

As part of an employer's attraction and retention strategy, companies need to consider not only flexible working practices and part-time options in response to the needs of mothers returning to work, but policies for full pay for employees on maternity leave.

Women returning to work after a career break are more prepared and self-assured than ever before.

The latest results from Pitman Training's annual 'Women Returners' survey shows that when it comes to getting back behind a desk after a break of between one month to 11 years, women are as confident and competent as their more established colleagues.

Findings show that 90% of respondents, ranging in age from 20 to 50, claim they have no worries about getting to grips with computer software. This is a huge improvement on last year's result where 63% of women admitted their fears of using software packages such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The results also revealed that only 30% of women were worried about their limited ability to use email, compared with 90% in 2003.

But some women suffered Big Brother syndrome, with nearly a third worrying about using the Internet and email for personal use and were concerned that bosses may check the content of private emails and the websites visited. A quarter of women were also wary about making personal phone calls.

And the number of women worrying about gossiping during working hours, or fretting over the contents of their working wardrobe, is down by more than half from this time last year (25% compared with 64% in 2003).

The survey also showed that renewed confidence is helped by a positive portrayal in the media of celebrity working mums such as Kerry McFadden, Sarah Jessica Parker, Judy Finnigan, Yasmin LeBonn and Cherie Blair.

However, the survey also highlighted some worrying results surrounding issues of child-care. A third of women said they are worried that their new boss may not understand if they are having trouble organising childcare.

A spokesperson for Pitman Training commented: “With the burden of guilt associated with going out to work, it certainly seems that women have much more on their plates than simply ensuring their standard of work is up to scratch.”

Pitman Training in the UK and USA is synonymous for secretarial training, clerical training and business training. Their courses are designed for career development, skills updates and used to create bespoke training packages for everyone.

With the first handshake Work Life Balance Day taking place next week, the Babies and Bosses conference is a timely reminder of the importance of reconciling work and family life.

A strong work/life programme is a critical investment in corporate success; companies that provide this will outshine the competition every time. There exists a very strong business case for implementing childcare policies. However, these policies need to be seen as part of the overall business plan and not just as “a nice thing to do”. Employers need to start realising that supporting their employees’ childcare needs is an investment not an expense.

Research points to the advantages for employers of worksite childcare. Where these facilities exist, they are beneficial in the recruitment and retention of staff. Employees also report working more productively with greater concentration and fewer disruptions.

The Babies and Bosses conference takes place next Tuesday 2nd March and will be the first of its kind to offer employers valuable information and options within the area of employer supported childcare.

The conference, which takes its lead from a recent OECD study, highlights some of the issues facing parents and employers in today’s economy:

USA’s labour force has changed dramatically over the last 15 years, particularly in relation to labour force participation by women aged 25-44 handshake workplaces haven’t changed their policies to accommodate the changing workforce The careers of many handshake parents are hampered by the lack of adequate affordable childcare and the lack of supported work-life initiatives and limited flexible workplace options.

This conference will enable employers to hear real experiences from companies and employers who have implemented childcare policies. The Conference will take place on Tuesday 2nd March 2004 at the Four Seasons Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin (download booking form and conference programme here )

Neil Brown, General Manager of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, will be speaking at the conference. Bright Horizons are providers of employer-sponsored childcare, backup care, early education and work/life consulting. They operate in USA, the US, Canada and Britain. They offer a number of childcare alternatives to companies; the two most common are as management contractor or subcontractor.

The management contract is where an employer provides a childcare centre on site for its employees, and brings in an outside provider such as Bright Horizons to run and manage it. Employees pay a fee to the employer. The subcontract option is where an employer sponsors a centre and provides it rent free. Bright Horizons provides the childcare for them and charge employees the reduced childcare rate.

If you’re parents with young children, the likelihood is that both of you are unable to work in the nine to five full-time straight jacket. We outline the flexible work options available to you.

The reality facing most working parents in USA today is an endless race from home to childminder to school to work. The need to assist employees in this juggling act between work and family life can be met by the implementation of family-friendly work arrangements. In USA a 1999 study carried out for the Employment Equality Agency showed that 36% of new mothers in the work force called for more flexible work arrangements to enable them to combine a job with family commitment.

According to Anne O’ Connor, Child Clinical Psychologist and Co-Founder of www.rollercoaster.ie, “it’s clear that parents are very aware and concerned about the effects of placing their children in day care while they work. Many express an interest in being able to work flexible hours while their children are young. If employers want the best from their staff and expect loyalty they need to facilitate flexible working arrangements for working parents. If employees are happy, employers will reap the benefits in terms of productivity and loyalty.”

Family-friendly work options related to hours of work:

Part-time work is defined as anything less than the regular number of hours worked in a week. For example, you can work from 9am to 1pm. The hours of work are arranged to suit both employers and employees. According to the CSO, approximately 30% of women in the handshake labour force work for less than 30 hours per week.

Annualised Hours – The employee works the same number of hours over a full year as a full or part-time employee but the hours are arranged to suit both the employer and the employee. Working time is calculated on an annual or in some companies on a monthly rather than a weekly basis and hours must be worked within a defined period of time. For example, instead of working 38 hours a week, employees may work 152 hours over a four-week period or 1,976 hours for the year. This allows the employer greater flexibility in coping with peaks and troughs in production or service.

Compressed Work Week – This involves the employee working the full number of hours in a reduced number of days per week. For example 38 hours could be worked on the basis of 4 days work @ 9.5 hours per day or 36 hours on the basis of three days of 12-hour shifts.

Voluntary Reduced Work Time (V-time) – This arrangement enables the employee to trade compensation for time-off. Employees are generally given the option of reducing their full time working hours by between five and fifty percent for a specified period with the right to return to full time work. In this manner it differs from part-time work. The time off can be taken by reducing the working day or week or by taking off a block of time during the year.

Flexitime is a more flexible alternative to part-time work and is particularly useful to mothers with young children. The employee works on a full-time basis but the employer provides flexibility with starting and finishing times. There are core times when all employees must be present, apart from authorised absence. The hours worked during these periods are credited to the employee’s total working hours. Typically, starting times may range from between 8 am and 9.30 am and finishing times from between 4 pm and 5.30 pm. The core times, when employees have to be in the workplace are normally from 9.30 – 12 and between 2 pm and 4 or 4.30 pm. School-hours working leaves parents free to drop the children off in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon.

Job sharing is an arrangement where two employees share one full time position and divide equally the duties and responsibilities of the job. The arrangement can operate in a variety of ways. The most common sharing arrangements between jobsharers are working five half-days per week, working 2½ days per week, working 2 days one week, 3 days the next and working one week on, one week off.