News Article - 23 May 2012
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Businesses are likely to find that the introduction of family-friendly policies, particularly during the economic downturn, allows them to improve their staff retention and productivity, an expert claims.

However, recent research commissioned by HireScores.com reveals that 81 per cent of British business managers admit that they would ask female job applicants if they were pregnant, planned on having children or already had children if they could.

Due to employment laws preventing these types of questions, almost 50 per cent of managers admit to factoring in a woman's age and relationship status when trying to establish whether they could potentially be getting pregnant in the future - findings which have been criticised by the Institute of Employment Rights.

Carolyn Jones, director of the Institute of Employment Rights, said that if companies were looking for a way to control costs then they would "hit the most vulnerable and in our labour market that is women".

Family-friendly policies in the workplace, however, would result in increased "loyalty, commitment and sustainability as employees will stay", she explained.

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