While we’re often used to talking about the plight of working mums, a new report says working dads are not pulling their weight at home due to being forced to clock too many hours at the office.
The report released by the Work + Family Policy Roundtable states that Australia is moving backwards on work and family issues and are calling for the working week to be capped at 38-hours.
Aussies are working well past the recommended working week and are calling for tighter restrictions for employees as well as flexible working hours.
“We have one of the most gendered and polarised working time regimes in the OECD,” Roundtable co-convenor Professor Sara Charlesworth from RMIT University tells the Sydney Morning Herald.
One of the largest groups affected appears to be the working fathers, who are struggling to pull their weight at home as they take on more hours as the women take on less.
“When women become mothers they tend to work very short part-time hours. As soon as a man becomes a father his hours of work go up. Australian male full-time hours tend to be much longer than the OECD norm.”
The report is urging the federal government to regulate the workplace, with the exception of mutually agreed overtime, as well as looking at issues around paid palliative care leave, domestic violence leave and paid annual leave on a pro-rata basis for casuals.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
