In
helping to support families businesses can play a critical role.
However, currently few employers have any formal policies in place to accommodate and
support employees who are going through divorce or separation. Staff and their families, as
well as businesses suffer as a result.
Employee performance is impacted owing to family breakdown, as a new survey from the Positive Parenting Alliance shows. More than 90%
of respondents said that their work performance was impacted when they went through a
divorce, and 95% reported that their mental health at work suffered.
Additionally,
more than 70% admitted that they were less efficient
at work and over 40% felt they had to take time off work as a result of their separation.
Over 10% stopped work altogether.
We surveyed people who have experienced separation.*
*PPA survey Jan 2023
90% stated that separation affected
their ability to work
95% said that separation
negatively impacted their mental
health in the workplace
39% took time off work
12% stopped working
altogether
Only 9% of employees said that
their employers had a specific
policy for separation.
What
is the Positive Parenting Alliance HR initiative?
We're calling for businesses and HR leaders to better support their employees who are going
through separation by implementing a number of HR initiatives.
Businesses signing up to this new initiative are provided with a support pack of
information from the Alliance for their employees and line managers.
To sign your organisation up to the initiative, all you need to do is to recognise separation as a 'life event' in your HR policy and make our support guides accessible to your employees.
The 4 Changes
1
Recognising separation as a 'life event' in HR policy so that those experiencing
separation feel recognised and realise that they can access support.
2
Ensuring parents going through a separation have access to flexible working to enable
them to manage school and childcare pick-ups and drop offs whilst they reconfigure their
family setups.
3
Giving employees access to, and pointing them towards, emotional counselling during
this period.
4
Signposting and access to separation support services so that parents can have the
guidance and support that they need to separate in the most compassionate and
child-focussed way.
We are delighted that these major UK companies signed up to the initiative at launch in January 2023.
The Positive Parenting Alliance
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For
advice on
how to separate with compassion, or if you are currently experiencing difficulties and
distress around
these issues and need further support a list of helpful organisations is below.
