Anne Begg
Main Page: Anne Begg (Labour - Aberdeen South)Department Debates - View all Anne Begg's debates with the Department for Transport
(12 years, 8 months ago)
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Maria Miller
I was in that position, a few years ago now. It is a difficult transition to make. That is why we are making it a great priority to introduce a new system of flexible parental leave so that new parents can choose how to share child care between them. That, along with our reforms of the benefits system under universal credit, will help many more women in particular to stay close to the labour market.
Dame Anne Begg (Aberdeen South) (Lab)
As we have heard, flexible working can be a very good thing, but sometimes the phrase is misinterpreted by employers, and that leads to bad practices such as zero-hour contracts and unrealistic flexibility that they look for from employees instead of giving them set hours. Will the Minister guard against always using the phrase “flexible working”? We may think it is a positive thing, but some employers interpret it differently.
Maria Miller
The hon. Lady makes an important point. They are the sorts of issues that will come out in our consultation.