Army Families Federation provides flexible employment to help Army spouse return to work

April 4, 2017

An Army spouse with a 9-year CV gap found it challenging to find employment after deciding to return to work.

What was the situation?

Audrey Nealon, an Army spouse, said:

“16 years or so ago, the prospect of marrying a dashing young Army officer seemed terribly glamorous and exciting! I was working for a Fund Management company at the time managing a team of unit trust dealers, overseeing the day-to-day running of our call centre. I had a reasonable amount of responsibility and was paid accordingly for my efforts. What could possibly go wrong?

If you had told me then that during the course of the next 16 years, I would give up several well-paid jobs to move house 7 times, live in 4 different countries, have 2 children in different continents, have to live alone for about 3 years – sometimes as a single parent – while my husband was deployed on numerous exercises, have operational deployments whilst changing jobs 11 times, I may just not have bothered to turn up for the wedding!

9 years after I left my last salaried job in the UK, I decided to seek gainful employment once again. We had been overseas for 6 years. I had two young children so realistically I would have to seek part-time employment as I did not have the luxury of having family nearby to take up the slack for me when my husband was deployed, working away from home or putting in ridiculously long hours in central London. I was naïve enough to think that because of the experience I had gained with previous employers like Prudential, BZW Lloyds and other blue chip companies, that securing a suitable position would be without effort. I couldn’t have been more wrong!”

What made this Covenant disadvantage?

Aspects of Service life such as frequent moves, overseas postings, and not living close to wider family, can impact serving families, and in this case lead to additional challenges for the spouse trying to secure employment. This is unlike civilian families, who are more likely to live in one place for a longer time, and so may find it easier to build a career and obtain support from wider family.

What was done to help?

Audrey said:

“In 14 months of job-hunting the first organisation to even offer me an interview was the Army Families Federation. Obviously the 9-year gap on my CV was not an attractive prospect for many of the other organisations I had applied to. I got that job at the Army Families Federation. I may not have had a paid job for 9 years, but I had all my skills from my previous jobs and invaluable experience of being a military wife and a parent. Experience that can always be drawn on at work, whatever your job. I am currently home-based, which means that I am confidently able to balance the demands of a parent with my busy workload. I am often the only parent at home for weeks at a time. Having this flexibility and a very supportive line manager makes this far less stressful.”

Audrey also had a positive experience with the Armed Forces Covenant, stating that,

“As military spouses, the obstacles we face are many and far-reaching in consequence. When used properly, the Armed Forces Covenant can be a very powerful tool to support you and your family, particularly when you move home. The Covenant definitely helped me access local services and get school places for my girls when we moved into a new area. It can also help military spouses find a Forces-friendly employer, like mine, that has signed the Covenant and pledged to support the Armed Forces community.”

What was the outcome?

Audrey successfully returned to employment with the Army Families Federation. The flexible working arrangements enabled her to manage family responsibilities while pursuing her career ambitions. She is now able to continue supporting her family while also pursuing her own opportunities.

Wider information

You can read more widely about:

• Covenant disadvantage and special provision (the two types of case study in this database)
• Covenant support for the Armed Forces community: Civilian employment
• How businesses can support the Armed Forces community and implement the Covenant
• Employing members of the Armed Forces community

Disclaimer: This case study is part of the Covenant case study database. MOD has developed the database to illustrate examples of good practice for organisations in scope of the Covenant. It serves as a guide for effective Covenant delivery, offering practical insights into achieving fairness for the Armed Forces community. Delivery of the Covenant may vary across the UK. This means there is no guarantee the solution outlined in this case study is available in your area.