A lack of flexible working arrangements is forcing parents out of employment, trade unions have cautioned.
New research from the TUC, which surveyed 500 parents with children under the age of seven, found that one in three had left a job because of a lack of flexible working.
A similar number of respondents said that their informal requests for flexible working had been rejected, either partially or in full.
Three in four respondents also said they were more likely to apply for a job if it included flexible working.
While almost one in five admitted they did not know they had a legal right to request flexible working.
The TUC said the polling showed that flexible working was still “stigmatised”, with high rates of rejection and negative treatment for those who do work flexibly.
The union body says the high rejection rate and poor treatment of flexible working requests showed that the Government was right to take action to make flexible working the default under the Employment Rights Act.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “As many parents return to work after the half-term break, anyone with kids knows that being able to work flexibly isn’t a perk. It is a lifeline for working families.
“But the truth is, too many parents are still being locked out of the labour market due to rigid and outdated attitudes in the workplace.
“Improving access to flexible working benefits workers, businesses and the economy – whether it’s through increasing staff productivity or higher retention.
“That’s why the Government is right in its ambition to make flexible working the default through the Employment Rights Act, but ministers must go further.
“It’s time we saw a legal duty on employers to advertise possible flexibility in roles to fit around workers’ lives.”
