Hospitality gets help on work-life balance

The Government's effort to promote a better balance between work and home life for employees has received a poor response from the hospitality business, despite its huge problem with retaining staff.

Out of a total of 176 employers set to benefit from the £10.5m allocated to help employers implement more flexible working practices, only three were from the hospitality sector.

The Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) and the HCIMA hoped to improve this situation by launching a guide specific to hospitality last week.

Alan Johnson, minister for employment relations and the regions, said that the hospitality industry had been singled out because it was "at the sharp end" of employment conditions and had had a bad reputation. The guide shows that, "Even here, you can introduce flexible practices and highlight the business benefits."

David Wood, chief executive of the HCIMA, commented: "Our industry is 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and this inevitably leads to concerns about work-life balance for all employees in the sector. In turn, if businesses are suffering from common problems such as high staff turnover, they cannot be working to their best advantage."

The guide outlines a range of working patterns such as flexitime, staggered hours, and term-time working.

A free copy of Creating a Work-Life Balance - a Guide for the Hospitality Industry (reference number URN 01/1186) can be obtained from DTI Publications by phoning 0870 150 2500.

by Ben Walker