Flexible working arrangements and specific training in the UK voluntary sector: A case study

This study identifies a mechanism for flexible working arrangements at a small not-for-profit organization, using a combination of ethnographic research and data collected from the organization in 2005 and 2007. From the perspective of human capital theory, the article examines a causality between maternity leave and specific skills, by ascertaining whether the employee's career follows the theory in terms of training investment, premium, return, age and income gain. Results suggest that applying this long-standing theory to analysing the interests of both employee and employer in relation to maternity leave will provide a fresh outlook on how female labour is viewed as a human resource.