Oxford Handbook of Human Resource Management

be accompanied by practices associated with eldercare and other such problems.
Similarly, if an integrated orientation towards family-friendly, equal-opportunity,
and high-involvement management exists, we would expect that practices,
for example related to childbirth, will coexist with work enrichment or equal-
opportunity practices.
Two types of family-friendly practices may be identiWed: ( 1 ) those that create
Xexibility in the timing and location of work so the employee can more readily
accommodate family demands, and ( 2 ) those that provide a substitute carer for the
employee (Bailyn 1993 : 67 ;Bondetal. 1998 ). Because of our focus on their connec-
tion with high-involvement management, we are particularly interested in their
provision for non-managerial employees. Of those practices measured in WERS 98 ,
theWrst type concerned withXexible working is most commonly used (Table 28. 1 ).
But none of these practices is adopted in the majority of the workplaces across the
whole economy. The most frequently available practice is the entitlement to work
part-time ( 46 percent of all workplaces in the economy, 58 percent of the sample);
this is followed by parental leave ( 34 percent, 43 percent) and job-sharing ( 28 percent,
38 percent). The provision of a workplace nursery and childcare subsidies is very rare,
the Wgures for the whole economy being 3 percent and 4 percent respectively
( 8 percent and 7 percent in the sample).
The equal-opportunity practices included in WERS 98 are: maintenance of work-
place records on the ethnic origin of employees; collection of statistics on
posts held by men and women; monitoring of promotions by gender, ethnicity,
etc.; reviews of selection and other procedures to identify indirect discrimination;
reviews of the relative pay of diVerent groups; and adjustments to accommodate
disabled employees. The most adopted practices are records on ethnic origin and

Table 28.1 The provision of family-friendly practices for non-managerial

employees

In WERS98 (unweighted

percentage)

In the economy

(weighted percentage)

Parental leave 43 34

Working from home 18 13

Term-only contracts 20 16

Working part-time 58 46

Job-sharing 38 28

Workplace nursery 8 3

Childcare subsidies 7 4

management in britain 587