The Committee called for the Employment Department to encourage employers to offer more flexible working, as a normal part of the terms they offer to staff.
The committee took evidence during the 1993/4 parliamentary sessions. Angela Eagle MP was its only woman member. She attempted to get the Committee to call for equal treatment for part-time workers (as the EU part-time workers directive would do in 1997) but was outvoted. Nevertheless, in its final report the Committee called strongly for employer action: “The objective should be to make flexible hours, working at home, job-sharing and all the other ‘family friendly’ practices a normal part of the terms that employers offer to those staff that want them.”
The Working Mothers Association and New Ways to Work both gave evidence, as did Ann Watts and Fiona Cannon. Link and link, in due course