New types of incorporation?

Maybe part of the solution to the ambiguous situation regarding recognition is that spouses should be newly incorporated into Services but on a new and more professional footing than in the past. Under pressure, the British Service is inching forwards - at least spouses of Heads of Mission in some posts can claim for the hours put into residence management. It has to have been already established that the residence requires a manager/housekeeper. Heads of Mission spouses can then apply for this position, and be paid at the appropriate local levels of pay. What is interesting here is that this trend represents a new form of incorporation of spouses into Services as a resource, but on a very different, and more professional, footing than in the past. Another aspect of this professionalisation of the role is the introduction of new accounting procedures and the provision of IT packages to help in managing residences.

Here, there are no easy solutions, and there tends to be something of a contradiction involved: something which always emerges within attitude surveys, both amongst officers and spouses, is that travel abroad figures high on the list of reasons for remaining within the Service and as one of the advantages for remaining with a diplomatic way of life (travel abroad was cited as the most important reason for not leaving the British Service in the Staff Attitude Survey undertaken in connection with the 1996 Review of Overseas Allowances (Hornby, 1996); and as the most important advantage of marrying a diplomat in the 1998 BDSA survey). And yet, it is precisely all the movement involved that contains one of the major disadvantages - that is the blight on the career opportunities of the accompanying or "trailing" spouse. It should be said that Diplomatic Services are not alone in facing this challenge - it is one which is well recognised within the private sector as one of the key questions to be tackled in organising international assignments. In a meeting the BDSA held with the company Employment Conditions Abroad, the ECA representative pointed out that all the major multinational companies are recognising that the issue of dual careers is becoming the primary factor affecting policies and practices governing expatriate postings, and recently a conference was held by the CBI on "Dual Careers and International Assignments." And for all that the private sector is not altogether comparable with our situation, the fact that the question of dual career couples in the context of international assignments has been placed on the agenda more widely may well bode well for the future in general for spouses who wish to keep up their careers.

As for more specific and immediate solutions to the dilemmas associated with spouse employment and the lack of it, the issue that has been top of the list within several European Associations for a good many years is that of compensation for lost pension rights. The British Service has now gained the acceptance of the Secretary of State that compensation should be paid for the inability of spouses to build up pension rights. If it is carried forward, it will be paid as an additional allowance overseas for spouses who were under fifty on marriage and who have spent at least 3 years abroad accompanying an officer. Although the money will still have to be found to fund this scheme, and the approval is still needed of the Minister of the Office of Public Service for the new regulation, the fact that it has been agreed upon in principle represents a major step forwards (the Austrians have also obtained agreement in principle for compensation for lost pension rights).

When it comes to making it easier for spouses actually to work and keep up their careers there are various policies now in place. One trend which is towards establishing databases upon which spouses can register for work - the BDSA established one in 1995, and has had some success (other European countries with employment databases include: Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden). A recent idea to emerge from Sweden is to establish an internet site, with each registered spouse having their own e-mail address to facilitate communication with potential employers. Other sources of help provided within the British Service include the provision of funds for re-training; the policy of employing spouses within missions; bilateral agreements; provision of language tuition and payment for passing language examinations. Also, greater provision is, in theory, being made for joint postings, for more flexible working practices, for Special Unpaid Leave and for Officers to spend up to ten years on a home posting, if for family or other reasons they feel this is necessary.

In conclusion, we need to return to the more general need for Diplomatic Services to stay in step with the changes in the societies within and between which they operate, if they are to recruit and retain staff. The need to take account of the whole family and the way in which this social category has itself changed is currently under review within the British Service. The aim is to introduce greater flexibility in the policies and practices governing personnel policies, allowing within the overall structure of allowances etc. space for differences in circumstances, rather than each individual having to do battle with the Administration each time a need arises which does not fit strictly with the rules and regulations. However, for these and other changes in policy to work out in practice, there will need to be a change in the consciousness of those actually administering it towards a greater openness and flexibility of thought. An illustration of this was provided by an American Community Liaison Officer. Commenting upon the impressive set of policies the Americans have in place for promoting spouse employment, the CLO pointed out that many management officers still had attitudes from the ark, - and that no amount of machinery could work unless they woke up and smelt the aroma of the coffee.

In the case of the British Service the bottom line was well expressed in one comment the BDSA received when spouses’ views were requested on the importance of family-friendly policies: "the Office must decide whether it wants a married service overseas. If yes, then it must persuade the Treasury that these days there is a fundamental difference between the Diplomatic Service and the Home Civil Service and that stems in large part from the mobility requirement and its effect upon spouse employment. Terms and conditions of service have to contain incentives to make spouses want to go overseas."