The purpose of this article is to investigate whether women returning to work following maternity leave or a career break have access to quality part-time work. Part-time work is set in the context of the UK labour market and the issues of occupational segregation and occupational downgrading of women employees are discussed. The findings of two recent studies on quality part-time work are considered, which focus on attempting to define the characteristics of quality part-time work and how to implement a quality part-time work strategy in the workplace. This article also considers the extent to which UK law is deficient in enabling women employees to access quality part-time work. Legislation which imposes obligations on businesses to ensure greater access to quality part-time work is likely to be contentious. Instead, more effort should be directed towards attempting to persuade policy makers and the business community of the advantages of quality part-time work.
Business Law Review