Should mums be able to leave work early for childcare?

As an estate agent wins £180k at a landmark tribunal...

ESTATE agent Alice Thompson should be applauded for taking her employers to a tribunal for refusing her request for an early leave time to collect her daughter from nursery.

Women must be given leeway to fit childcare around their working lives. Smart employers wanting to attract and retain the best people have rejected the notion that fixed hours be imposed to get work done. Flexibility is often offered as the default.

The pandemic has accelerated the trend, shifting the emphasis from hours spent at a desk to what’s actually being achieved.

It can’t be a complete free-for-all, obviously, especially for roles that involve meeting clients — such as estate agency — but reasonable requests such as an earlier finish to pick up a child from nursery should usually be able to be accommodated (apart from in the smallest firms).

It might suit a colleague to start and finish later, for example. It just takes teamwork, give-and-take and good management to ensure the work gets done in a way that suits as many people as possible.

There’s plenty of evidence that companies benefit too: their staff feel happy and engaged and become highly productive as a result.

Alice Thompson was clearly regarded as a top performer before taking maternity leave. She would still have been a great performer on her return — she just couldn’t work such long hours as before.

From personal experience, I know many mothers (and some fathers) become more efficient after having children.

To be honest, I was surprised when I returned to work after having my first child and realised I could get a lot done in a shorter time now that I had to pick my son up from nursery before it closed — and simply couldn’t drift towards the completion of a task.

The work still got done. I just worked differently than before.

The same flexibility should be offered, where possible, to anyone with caring responsibilities, male or female, whether they are caring for small children or elderly parents.

Most couples have children. Yet the reality is that women are still eight times more likely than men to be the primary caregiver.

Antiquated attitudes, like that of Alice’s former employer, stop women from making the progress they should and contributing to both their family’s income and to this country’s economic growth.

It’s good news for women and families and, ultimately, for the economy that she won her case.

Women must be given leeway at work