Working Parents Who Are Going Through A Divorce May Soon Be Given Time Off

Parents going through a divorce could soon be given time off from work under a new scheme.

Bosses will change HR policies to state that separation is akin to a family death or illness under the Positive Parenting Alliance’s scheme supported by employers including Tesco, Asda and NatWest.

A newspaper outlet reported that the scheme was announced at an event in Parliament yesterday.

It came after a study revealed that 90 per cent of employees polled said their work was badly impacted when they divorced, while 95 per cent said their mental health also suffered.

The newspaper outlet said about three-quarters said they were less efficient at work, while around 40 per cent said that they’d taken time off work as a result of their separation.

Mustafa Faruqi, the head of employee relations at Tesco, said the supermarket industry had a duty to influence the lives of lots of working people in a positive way.

Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the family division of the High Court, said that employers should be treating separation as an important life event, like bereavement or severe illness.

People separate or get divorced every day of the week, some it affects more than others, but I would imagine that working would be the one stabilising thing that they could do because people have the capability to live through things and come out stronger.

However, coming shortly to a workplace near you will be fully paid sick leave for those that suffer from hypochondria.

However, if someone’s separation has impacted them badly, then they should be given an absence of leave for a brief time and perhaps it should come under sick leave, although to be honest, I’m not sure how people managed in the past.

But hey, what about those people that work, manage their children and have to get care for their children, that’s stressful enough in itself, with some almost having breakdowns because of this, but they don’t get leave to sort their lives out, they just have to crack on with it.

Perhaps the philosophy should be, why bother going to work at all, just insist on getting paid for nothing, and tons of people do – it’s called benefits.

Maybe we should get a day off because one is sad, it’s cloudy and rainy.

However, for those who have never been through a divorce, it can be problematic, painful, especially if there are children involved and sometimes it can get extremely messy, and for those that are going through a truly difficult time, they should be able to take some leave for this.

But it appears that we have created a snowflake generation that will melt at the tiniest thing.

Things go on in our lives that are difficult to get through, but we do, and turning up for work sometimes helps to escape the drama going on at home, and some find that work is what gets them through their divorce because it gave them a reason to get out of bed and into a routine, and it keeps your mind occupied.

However, a decent employer would recognise that a happy workforce is a productive workforce and that a productive workforce is a profitable workforce, and from an HR standpoint, it’s far better for a worker to be at their desk completely focused, and have some personal time out of work, then to be underperforming due to their issues which they’ve not been allowed to resolve.

It shouldn’t matter if your car breaks down, the washing machine floods the kitchen, the kids are unwell, teachers are on strike, the dog or your granny passed away, or you’re going through a divorce, a reasonable employer should support their workers through the various problems and traumas they face in and out of work because, at the end of the day, happy employees make for productive employees.

Sometimes that might mean allowing unexpected time off work although that doesn’t necessarily mean paid time off, making time back or using holidays might be more fitting.

On the flip side, a good employee would do their best to leave their personal baggage at the door when they arrive at work and will work with their employer to try to mitigate the effect any non-work related issues have on their performance.

There’s definitely nothing wrong with having policies that furnish support for people who are facing personal problems, it’s poor policies, implementation or people taking liberties that cause the issues.