Mother knows best

2007 marks a very special occasion for national recruitment group, HR GO Plc ñ its 50th year of supplying quality personnel to industry throughout the UK.

Amidst the celebrations of our golden anniversary, we pay tribute to the founder of the company this Motherís Day, and share our HR knowledge and expertise regarding the new Work and Families Act which comes into force on 1st April and how this will affect companies and individuals.

Mrs Betty Parkinson, founder of HR GO Plc, was our own Mother of Recruitment. Against all odds Betty, a married mother of two, started the business in the late 1950s at the age of 37 with the first office in Dartford, Kent. Betty remained on the Board of Directors late into her 70s and saw the company grow under the management of her son, Jack Parkinson, Chairman, into a company consisting of over 45 joint venture companies in the group with a turnover in excess of 80 million.

The embodiment of female empowerment in business, a true recruitment pioneer, Mrs P, as she was warmly known, is a great role model for women and especially mothers balancing children and careers even 50 years on in todayís society.

HR Update:

The Work and Families Act (WFA) comes into force on 1st April 2007 and makes a number of amendments to existing legislation regarding working parents.

At HR GO, we recognise that this legislation has many positive effects for both employers and employees.

Employees will be more able to balance the responsibilities and financial costs of early childcare with their careers and Employers are able to meet the operational needs of their business whilst ensuring that they donít unnecessarily lose the skills, knowledge and experience of their working mothers.

For employees the benefits are obvious:

- All employees, regardless of length of service, are entitled to take up to 52 weeks Maternity Leave. This is a big change from the old legislation whereby individuals had to meet with certain, length-of-service related criteria to qualify for this right.

- The Maternity Pay period has been extended from 26 weeks to 39 weeks and the rate of Maternity Pay has also increased. From 6th April 2007, women on Maternity Leave will receive 6 weeks pay at 90% of their average weekly earning and for the remaining 33 weeks she will receive maternity pay at the statutory weekly rate, which has increased to 112.75.*

This will no doubt be a welcome change for working mums, as they will be able to enjoy a longer period of maternity leave with their new arrival and will invariably be more financially able to do so.

The WFA has not, however, forgotten about the needs of employers:

- The new law has doubled the amount of notice a woman must give if she intends to return to work before the end of her Maternity Leave. Previously, a woman only had to give four weeks notice, which was sometimes problematic for employers especially if they had temporarily filled her position with an employee on a fixed term contract. Employers had to work to a very tight time-scale if they wanted to plan adequately for their employees return and avoid unnecessary costs. The eight-week notice period gives employers a bit more breathing space.

- Employers are now permitted to maintain reasonable contact with their employees during their Maternity Leave. Previously this was a grey area and the new legislation has provided some clarity. Employers will now be free to communicate with their employees during their Maternity Leave e.g. by sending their employees their company newsletter, informing them of promotional opportunities, advising them of key organisational changes and even letting them know about social events like the annual Christmas party.

- It can be a big step for some mothers to return to work after such a long time away and the regular contact they maintain with their employer can make them feel more confident and more likely to return. The Work and Families Act has introduced, ëKeep In Touchí days which will enable woman to come into work whist on Maternity Leave and complete up to ten days, ëworkí. Both employer and employee must agree to the Keep In Touch day. But they are seen to be of benefit to both parties as Keep In Touch days can be for training, maintaining client contact, assisting with busy periods etc.

* subject to certain qualifying criteria