In the final episode of the season, Ben and Mandy are joined by Jules Hawkins, founder of the Single Mums Business Network to discuss setting up a business as a single parent.

Jules tells Ben and Mandy about becoming a single mum at 35 and the stigma she faced at work, which led her to set up the Business Network to help support other single mums going through the same thing.

Jules unpacks the way single mums are treated at work and the lack of government support for single parents, delving into how she manages childcare, to how important flexible working is considering single parents are not given any guidance as to where to find support and that there is no legislation for them to submit reasonable flexible working requests.

Thanks so much to Jules for joining for the last episode of the season. You can find all other episodes wherever you get your podcasts and find more of Ben and Mandy on workingdads.co.uk, workingmums.co.uk and workingwise.co.uk. Have a great festive season, that’s a wrap on season 2!

Produced and edited by Honey Wyatt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week is National Older Workers week, so Ben and Mandy start the fifth episode of Mums.Dads.Work discussing how employers can pay better attention to the age diversity of their employees and support them in every stage of life. 

They are then joined by midlife career transition specialist and author of Dancing with fear and confidence: How to liberate yourself and your career in mid-life, Laura Walker, who explains how to approach a career change in mid life. People often don’t know where they want to go, and managers don’t know how to help people, so Laura explains why some people might want to go through a career transition in mid life and how to go about making a change. She also tells Ben and Mandy about if there are any differences in how men and women approach mid career transitions.

To end the episode, Ben and Mandy discuss how the cost of living crisis is impacting workers, and whether there is any hope for potential future changes to legislation that could help support them.

Thanks for listening, Ben and Mandy will be back next week for the final episode of the season, see you then!

Produced and edited by Honey Wyatt.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ben and Mandy kick off the fourth episode of Mums.Dads.Work by talking about the four day work week. Scottish authorities recently tested out a four day working week in response to employees’ burnout and worker shortages, so they discuss how realistic it is we might see a four day work week in future and how the structure of the working week might change in coming generations.

They are then joined by Karen Holden, managing director at A City Law Firm, to discuss employment rights when it comes to flexible working. Karen explains how employees can approach flexible working requests, particularly when it comes to parental leave or disability, and what their rights are. She also explains how employers approach flexible working requests and what they have to take into account when approving the requests. 

Finally, Ben and Mandy end the episode by discussing wraparound childcare allocations, and how the lack of funding for wraparound childcare has knock-on affects on parents’ work.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Mums.Dads.Work. Ben and Mandy will be back in two weeks with another episode. In the meantime you can find more about working parents and get in contact at workingdads.co.uk, workingmums.co.uk and workingwise.co.uk. See you next time.

Produced and edited by Honey Wyatt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In light of Pregnant Then Screwed's stunts at the Labour Party conference earlier this month, Ben and Mandy start their third episode of the season discussing paternity leave. They talk about whether the Labour Party will make paternity leave more accessible for working parents and how companies can enhance their own paternity leave policies in a way that benefits its employers.

They are then joined by Liz Sebag-Montefiori, from 10Eighty career advisers to discuss career progression. Liz offers advice on how to stay visible at work as a working parent, as well as how to progress in your career.

It was World Menopause Day last week so, to end the episode, Ben and Mandy discuss Menopause Awareness Month 2023. Mandy explains the menopause symptoms are not understood and how the menopause can impact on family and working life.

Finally, Ben and Mandy do a final call out to encourage companies to apply for their Top Employer Awards 2023. They'll be back in two weeks with another episode. See you then!

Produced and edited by Honey Wyatt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s World Mental Health Day 2023 this week, so Ben and Mandy start the episode off discussing parents’ mental health, particularly how it can be impacted by their kids’ wellbeing.

They are then joined by Tabytha Cunningham and Charlotte Farrell to discuss flexible working. Tabytha and Charlotte do a job share at Paris Smith Solicitors, so they explain what a job share involves, as well as the pros and cons of flexible working. They also cover what updates have been made to flexible working legislation in 2023 and changes to expect, advising on how to submit a flexible working request.

To end the episode, Ben and Mandy recommend some parenting books for working mums and dads. They’ll be back in two weeks with another episode. In the meantime, you can get in touch on www.workingdads.co.uk, www.workingmums.co.uk and www.workingwise.co.uk. See you then!

Produced & edited by Honey Wyatt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to season two of the WM People podcast - now called Mums Dads Work!

Over the next six weeks Ben and Mandy will be joined by experts on the topic that week to offer quality advice on everything that impacts working parents, from negotiate flexible working to changing careers. 

This week, they’re joined by The CV Guru Emma Alkirwi to discuss how to compile a CV. Emma offers tips for writing CVs, from how long they should be, to how to order your previous work experience, as well as how to use the right keywords to navigate ATS. 

Emma also covers mistakes people make on their CVs, whether you should consider using a video CV and how to navigate any career gaps you might have, whether from going travelling or parental leave.

Ben and Mandy tell us about Workingmums' Return To Work Week, which kicks off on Monday 25th September. Each day there will be advice on everything from returning to work, flexible working, changing careers and tech. To end the episode, Mandy talks through the findings of Workingmums' annual survey.

Stay tuned for another five episodes of season 2, Ben and Mandy will be back in two weeks with another guest. In the meantime, you can get in touch on www.workingdads.co.uk, www.workingmums.co.uk and www.workingwise.co.uk. See you then!

Produced & edited by Honey Wyatt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of WM People, Ben and Mandy discuss alternative childcare, fake flexibility at work and sleep deprivation.

Platforms like Koru Kids might offer flexible childcare options, but how workable are they? Ben and Mandy start the episode discussing the pros and cons of using alternative childcare options, from ensuring they work outside wealthy areas to whether they provide continuity to children and how they’ll adapt to that.

They then discuss fake flexibility at work after having children. While there is often the option to reduce the number of working days, the amount of work you do might not reflect that, so Ben and Mandy discuss why this is and what companies can do to improve this structure.

Sleep deprivation is common among new parents, but Ben and Mandy look at lack of sleep later in their parenting and why this might be.

Please leave a review and rating if you enjoyed this episode of WM People. You can get in touch with Ben and Mandy on www.workingdads.co.uk, www.workingmums.co.uk and www.workingwise.co.uk with anything you’d like to hear about. Ben will be back in two weeks with another episode and WM People’s first ever guest, see you then!

Produced and edited by Honey Wyatt.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of WM People, Ben and Mandy talk about the childcare budget announcement this week, single mums and Mother’s Day 2023.

They begin the episode discussing the childcare budget announcement last week, giving a brief overview of the changes and what the impact will be on working parents.

Single parents will be among the most impacted by the changes, so Ben and Mandy discuss what single parenthood involves more broadly and the emotional implications of being a sole guardian to children. 

Lastly, Ben and Mandy reflect on mother’s day 2023, which was last week, and how meaningful the day is for different people depending on their parent-child relationships. 

Please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. You can get in touch with Ben and Mandy on www.workingdads.co.uk or www.workingmums.co.uk. They’ll be back in two weeks with another episode.

Produced and edited by Honey Wyatt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of WM People, Mandy and Ben talk about childcare, International Women’s Day and the FDM Everywoman awards.

They discuss the significance of childcare in a child’s development and highlight the lack of funding allocated towards it. They look at the reasons why childcare remains a neglected issue and suggest possible ways to improve it.

As the world celebrated International Women’s Day 2023, Mandy and Ben reflect on the most pressing gender equality issues it raised. They examine the recent backlash against gender equality and speculate on what its future will be like, as well as whether enough is being done to promote it.

It was International Women’s Day 2023 this week so they then discuss the most prominent issues that came up, including recent backlash against gender equality and why that might be. They also ask what the hope for gender equality is in future and whether there is enough being done to improve it.

Lastly, Ben and Mandy briefly discuss their attendance at the FDM Everywoman in Technology Awards, and emphasise the importance of technology across all industries.

If you enjoyed this episode, please remember to subscribe and leave a review. Ben and Mandy would love to hear what you have to say so you can get in touch with them on www.workingdads.co.uk or www.workingmums.co.uk. Tune in two weeks for another episode.

Produced and edited by Honey Wyatt.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ben Falk and Mandy Garner start this episode of WM People talking about the trail in the UK of the four day work week. They discuss the logistics of having a shorter working week, whether it will change people’s attitudes towards work in the long run and how it might impact people’s carbon footprints.

They then move on to diversity and inclusion and the way companies can effectively engage in unconscious bias training. Sometimes D&I training can feel like a tickbox exercise but they examine how important it is to get people to engage meaningfully in this training and be challenged by it, especially in the workplace.

Finally, Ben and Mandy discuss calling in sick for work. Whether you’re sick yourself or need to look after sick children, calling in sick for work can pose a lot of challenges to your work and personal life, so they talk about anxieties around that and how employers can be more supportive of people calling sick. 

Please feel free to contact Ben or Mandy, you can find their details on www.workingmums.co.uk or www.workingdads.co.uk. They’ll be back with a new episode in a couple of weeks.

Produced and edited by Honey Wyatt

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.