The research to which the Deputy refers, was in fact commissioned by the National Framework Committee for Family Friendly Policies, which is chaired by my Department. The National Framework Committee on Family Friendly Policies which is made up of representatives from IBEC, ICTU, the Equality Authority, and public service employers, as well as a number of Departments, was set up under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and charged with implementing the National Framework on Family Friendly Policies contained in that agreement.
The focus of the work of the committee was to support and guide the voluntary development and implementation of family-friendly policies at the level of the enterprise. The social partners recently agreed that the work of the national framework committee should continue under the latest national agreement, Sustaining Progress.
The research project was carried out by a consortium made up of Trinity College, Dublin, Goodbody Economic Consultants and the Institute of Public Administration, in order to gather information on the types of family friendly policies in organisations, the level of availability and uptake of family friendly working arrangements in Irish workplaces, attitudes to family friendly working arrangements among employers, employees and work colleagues and to identify existing research available in this area.
Resulting from a survey of 1,006 employees, the researchers found that 62% of the male employees worked an average of 41.1 hours per week and 38% of the female employees surveyed worked an average of 38.6 hours per week. These hours are well within the terms of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, which stipulates that an employee may not work in excess of an average of 48 hours per week. The committee intends to publish the research, which is entitled, Off the Treadmill – Achieving Work/Life Balance, in the near future.
