On The Horizon – August 2024

A renewed need to stand up for Inclusion

Tens of thousands gathered in the UK’s streets on Saturday 10^th August, responding to Stand Up to Racism’s call to “stop the far right”, along with similar calls from United Against Racism in Belfast. These gatherings sought to show that most people in the UK want no part in racist, Islamophobic violence.

So, has the mood now successfully shifted, as peaceful demonstrations – combined with focused policing and rapid criminal justice action – took centre stage and the riots subsided? It seemed to counter the claim of Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, who had suggested “Civil war is inevitable”.

But can we simply move on? Much-loved 91-year-old actor Michael Caine had urged: ‘Calm down’, which is sage advice in most situations; but is it enough? None of us – particularly those who happen to be Black, or Brown or of Muslim faith or culture – can now unsee the hatred that was shown. There must be continuing work to do to. Elliott Rae and Aggie Mutuma outlined some of the conversations that need to take place at work as well as in our communities.

The CIPD’s Rachel Suff, Employee Relations Advisor also gave advice on two areas of potential impact: supporting employees who are affected and/or worried, on the one hand, and responding to discovering that an employee has been involved in racist behaviour, on the other hand, whether inciting violence online or in rioting directly. Clarity, calm, confidentiality and communication are key, as seen in the CIPD briefing: ‘Navigating the riots in the UK as an employer – How to respond if employees are involved in the riots in the UK, either in person or through social media’ and throughout the CIPD’s hub of support on this matter.

Like most of the client organisations we partner with, Bright Horizons has a highly active Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging group and a Cultural Collective among our employee communities. These are spaces, among others, where these conversations will certainly need to continue as the physical and emotional effects of what was seen on the streets will be ongoing.

The new Legislative landscape

With the government in office barely six weeks and a stark focus suddenly on maintaining civil order, it might be possible to forget that a whole new legislative agenda has just been set out.

The Employment Rights Bill is poised to be introduced in the first 100 days, according to the King’s Speech, suggesting the text could be laid before parliament by 12 October 2024. The legislative process will then of course require many months. However, once law, this could be seen as ‘a substantial shift in employee relations for the business community’ according to Alexandra Hall-Chen, Principal Policy Advisor for Sustainability, Skills and Employment at the Institute of Directors (IoD). In the same press release, the IoD’s Director of Policy, Dr. Roger Barker, comments: “We are strongly supportive of the government’s commitment to placing economic growth and wealth creation at the heart of its legislative agenda... However, the devil will be in the detail, and it will be crucial for the government to consult closely with business in order to maximise the impact of today’s plans.”

One of the significant shifts planned will be day 1 access to a wider range of employment rights. Among family-friendly provisions, this includes access to parental leave for new starters and strengthening protections for new mothers, making it unlawful to dismiss a new birth parent for six months after return to work, except in specific circumstances. Flexible working will also be treated as a default expectation from day 1.

A proposed Equality (Race and Disability) Bill will add mandatory reporting on Ethnicity and Disability (alongside Gender) pay gaps for organisations with over 250 staff. Organisations of that size will also be required to produce Menopause Action Plans.

With a Children’s Wellbeing Bill also included in the King’s Speech, Children’s welfare campaigner Paul Lindley has observed: “Commitments in the King’s Speech, from the smoking ban and investing in breakfast clubs to recruiting more teachers and building 1.5 million new homes, can benefit children and young people significantly… children are key to a successful future.” Bright Horizons’ Nurture Approach of course sees children’s wellbeing as the bedrock of its educational philosophy.

We are planning a webinar on 17th September to unpack all the pending legislation and explore how employers can stay ahead with best practice in a changing public policy environment.

Some other legal matters of family-inclusive relevance

Workplace Nursery Partnerships: HM Revenue & Customs has issued new guidance indicating a tightening up on schemes set up to ‘take advantage’ of workplace nursery salary sacrifice. The detailed HMRC guidance is here describing the eligibility criteria for the scheme, including that employers need to be “wholly or partly responsible for the financing and managing of the provision” of childcare to qualify for the benefit. Bright Horizons and our employer clients have always taken care to ensure our partnerships meet the criteria.

Asking job candidates the ages of their children can be sex discrimination: a tribunal case in which a female candidate was offered a job, then saw it withdrawn, was successful in claiming sex discrimination as a manager had asked the ages of her children.

Of course, avoiding legal pitfalls is not the driving force for the best employers to ensure they are family-inclusive. The real return on investment is all about talent retention and talent attraction. Another provision in the King’s Speech – the creation of Skills England – is aimed at supporting the UK economy with the skilled workforce needed.

Summer Holiday pressures

Bright Horizons has commented on the summer holiday juggle theme in several media articles. The latest is a helpful piece in HR News by our colleague Emma Willars, directed at parents on minimising parental guilt by planning and using all available resources, including of course back-up care.

Further Bright Horizons commentary has earlier appeared in HR review and Personnel Today. An insightful piece by Annie Hayes in HR Grapevine puts the parent at the centre and also shines a light on the extensive supports for working parents at Bright Horizons’ client Jaguar Land Rover.

Meanwhile, Guernsey is consulting on the support needed by parents to meet the "extremely challenging” demands of balancing childcare with full-time work during the summer holidays. Guernsey States Deputy, Sasha Kazantseva-Miller, has said: "I think we need a joined-up approach between what government can do to facilitate better support for parents, but also, importantly, what employers can do, because that will make them a more attractive place to work.

And if the argument for Back-Up Care needs further reinforcing, a recent survey of 3,003 working parents by MetLife UK showed how much impact there is for parents when children’s illness strikes. Beyond solving the summer holiday puzzle, parents experience disruptions all year round: “18% have, or would have to, attempt to work while caring for their ill child”. From a cost of living point of view, “almost four-fifths (79%) of working parents have, or would be, impacted financially in some way if they took time off work to care for their ill child”.

More recognition for Bright Horizons

With the Personnel Today Awards shortlist recently released, Bright Horizons has been shortlisted in 5 categories including in an entry for Family-Friendly Employer along with our client Citi. There is also recognition for Bright Horizons itself in the shortlists for Health and Wellbeing; Learning and Development (Larger Employers); Workplace Culture Award and HR Director of the Year Award for Janine Leightley.

If last month we had a hat-trick of Great Place to Work awards to report, this month – as the football season kicks off – our goal-scoring has climbed to a ‘haul’ (I should admit I had to look that one up). Having been recognised among the Great Places to Work for Development: and as one of the overall Best Employers, Bright Horizons last month was placed 17^th for Wellbeing and has now gained 13^th place in the Best Workplaces for Women, all in the Super Large category, alongside many of our clients.