The UK Women Returners' Unit has been moved from central London to join Chelmsford College's Essex Returners' Unit.

The new more powerful organisation is getting government cash to help people seeking to get back into work. It also helps employers of all sizes work out "work-life balance" and "family friendly policies".

The Women Returners' Unit will specifically assist females trying to get back into the workforce against the difficulties of keeping a job when family pressures are there.

Men and women will be assisted by the college-based GROW - Greater Opportunities for Work - a database funded by the European Union with information on employment and training. Advice about child care arrangements, filling in application forms, and employers with home working and term-time policies are all part of the package.

The unit is headed by Joy MacMillan who commented: "I have a staff of three including myself at the moment but we get undergraduate assistance from European universities as well. We are also setting up our first branch at Nottingham which actually has a bigger staff than we do. It will deal with the midlands and north whilst we remain responsible for London and the south. I am to talk to the Scottish Assembly about a similar set up in Glasgow.

"Our aim is to talk to employers and help them frame family friendly policies. These can even be reflected in the way they advertise for staff and the style of language they use. Stating 'O' levels in adverts rather than GCSE's often encourages people in the older age range to apply for instance.

"Among local organisations that have been assisted with GROW help are Boots the Chemists in Chelmsford, Anglia Polytechnic University, Coleman's solicitors, and Chelmsford Borough Council.

"Details kept to help employers and potential employees marry up are: child care provision; career break schemes, job-sharing, part-time working, maternity leave, leave for care of dependents, and sex-race harassment policies; time off for public duties, paid paternity leave, in house training policies, and time off to care for the sick.

"It is important for Essex that the national centre is now here because it gives the county a head start in pioneering the sorts of issues that can help so many people to get back to work - many of whom have no point of contact for finding a job and are not registered with job centres or agencies but just look at the ads in the Chronicle every week and do not see anything that appears, initially, to meet their particular domestic circumstances.

"Our aim is to change all that with the sort of help we can give employers. We have assisted a number of particularly small firms to realise that flexible and part time working can give them a pool of people familiar with their business operations whom they can call upon in emergencies, emergencies which can sometimes threaten the viability of companies."

Joy and her team, Lee Booth and Julie Nielson can be contacted on 01245 263796. Website: www. women-returner.co.uk.

By Peter Baker

Reporter's e-mail: peter.baker@essex-chronicle.co.uk

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