Released on = August 2, 2007, 2:03 am

Press Release Author = Wildfire PR

Industry = Human Resources

Press Release Summary = A new study published today shows that changes to maternity
legislation, introduced from 1st April 2007, are resulting in an increased
reluctance to employ women, particularly among small and medium-sized businesses
(SMBs)

Press Release Body = Chalfont, UK. - 02 August, 2007: A new study published today
shows that changes to maternity legislation, introduced from 1st April 2007, are
resulting in an increased reluctance to employ women, particularly among small and
medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The independent research, commissioned by Citrix
Online, a division of Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS) surprisingly reveals that
53% of employers believe the new regulations are making some managers think twice
about recruiting women.
The Citrix Online survey also uncovered widespread ignorance about the new maternity
legislation, with 34% of SMBs unaware of the changes. These changes include the
extension of statutory maternity pay from six to nine months and the removal of
qualifying criteria so that all mothers are now entitled to 12 months maternity
leave, regardless of how long they have been employed in their position.
The new regulations are the latest in a series of family-friendly initiatives
introduced by the government since 2003 to help employees balance work and family
responsibilities. According to the Department for Business, Enterprise and
Regulatory Reform, the initiatives have improved employee retention rates, with
fewer women now changing employers after they return to work from maternity leave.
Despite this, 30% of employers in the Citrix Online survey thought it would be
harder to retain talented women in the workforce and a further 26% believe the
latest changes would have a commercially negative impact.
On the positive side, 72% of respondents felt that the new regulations will cause
the more progressive companies to adopt additional flexible working practices to
help working mothers manage the demands of work and family. Currently, 78% of
employers allow staff to take a day's holiday at very short notice and 64% offer
the option to adjust start and finish time. However, just 18% offer formal
flexitime and only 11% operate job sharing initiatives, according to the Citrix
Online research.


One of the key ways companies can support working mothers is by providing them with
technology that allows them to work from home as if they were in the office. Yet,
the research shows only 43% of SMBs have any technologies in place to support home
working, compared to 76% of bigger companies.
"In spite of the government's best efforts to encourage employers to provide a
family-work balance, our research has shown that attitudes, particularly amongst
SMBs, have been slow to change," commented Simon Presswell, MD, EMEA, Citrix
Online. "There is a preconception that hiring women can be detrimental to a
business, but the opposite is true. A company that supports women in maternity
leave and encourages them to work flexibly upon returning to work will benefit from
a more highly motivated and loyal staff, with lower levels of absenteeism.
Moreover, a recent study published by The Women and Work Commission asserts that if
women's participation in the labour market is increased, it could be worth up to
£23 billion, or 2.0%, of GDP."
Denise Tyler, Editor, Mother@Work, added: "The changes to the maternity legislation
have been designed to help both women and employers. Statutory maternity pay is
fully funded by the government and businesses must recognise that giving flexibility
to working parents will be rewarded with commitment and loyalty, which will help
retain the talents of women within the workforce and save time and money on
recruitment and training."
"By adopting progressive flexible-working policies, companies can make it easier for
new mothers to return to work and therefore help reduce this loss of talent from
their workforce. The latest generation of SaaS remote access products such as
GoToMyPC® and GoToMeeting®, make it incredibly easy for employees to work from home
as if they were in the office. For employers, no upfront investment in technology
or IT expertise is required and for working parents, the ability to use their home
PC to work on a regular or ad-hoc basis helps to accommodate the additional
pressures of being a parent." concluded Presswell.
Ends
Notes to Editors
Methodology
The study is based on 202 interviews taken by an independent research house in
April-May 2007 with Heads of HR in a representative cross-section of British
businesses. In smaller companies, where there was no specialist HR/Personnel
department, interviews were taken with the Managing Director. The study covered
private sector companies only and did not cover the public and not-for-profit
sector. Sole traders were excluded but apart from this companies of all sizes, from
the very smallest to the very largest, were eligible for interview.






*SMB: A definition
Our survey follows the European Union definition of a small to medium sized business
(SMB) as a legally independent company with no more than 500 employees. According
to the UK government's Small Business Statistical Analysis Unit, there are an
estimated 4.3 million SMBs in the UK, representing 99% of all UK businesses and
accounting for half of the UK\'s turnover and employment.


About Citrix Online
Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS), is a leading
provider of easy-to-use, on-demand applications for remote desktop access, Web
conferencing and collaboration. Its award-winning services, which are used by more
than 22,000 businesses and hundreds of thousands of individual subscribers, include:
Citrix® GoToMyPC for remote PC access; Citrix® GoToAssistT for live remote support;
Citrix® GoToMeeting® for online meetings; and Citrix® GoToWebinarT for
do-it-yourself Web events. Based in Santa Barbara, California, Citrix Online has
offices around the world. For more information, please visit www.citrixonline.com.
About Citrix
Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CTXS) is the global leader and the most trusted name in
application delivery infrastructure. More than 200,000 organizations worldwide rely
on Citrix to deliver any application to users anywhere with the best performance,
highest security and lowest cost. Citrix customers include 100% of the Fortune 100
companies and 98% of the Fortune Global 500, as well as hundreds of thousands of
small businesses and prosumers. Citrix has approximately 6,200 channel and alliance
partners in more than 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2006 was $1.1 billion.
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Citrix®, GoToMyPC®, GoToMeeting®, GoToWebinarT, All You Can MeetT and All You Can
ReachT are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its
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their respective owners.



Web Site = http://www.citrixonline.com

Contact Details = Tris Clark, Wildfire PR
+44 (0) 20 8339 4420 or citrixonline@wildfirepr.co.uk

Gregory Batchelor, Citrix Online
+44 (0) 1753 276 317 or gregory.batchelor@citrix.com