10th September 2010
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Flexible working to be extended
In a measure the Financial Times has described as a response to the political troubles of the Government, the Queen’s Speech in May has announced the extension of the current right to request flexible working arrangements, increasing the reach of the provisions to an estimated 4.5 million extra employees.
Since 2003 employees with more than six months service have had the right to request flexible working to care for a child under the age of six (or eighteen if the child is disabled) and this is to be extended from April 2009 to those with children under the age of sixteen. There has been a mixed response to the news in the media. Employers group EEF have called for a delay in the implementation, quoting their own research showing that 79% of employers did not want the change while the CIPD, writing before the actual announcement, accused the review of lacking independence in not extending the right to all workers.
In practice, there is good evidence that flexible working is seen by staff as a significant factor in increasing their loyalty to an employer and their performance at work and that giving a right to request flexible working rather than a right to receive it is helpful in allowing sensible employers to find ways to make compromises which don’t threaten their business interests. interestingly, the Labour Outlook Survey published by KPMG found that over 90% of requests for flexible working have been granted but that 69% of employers ‘never or occasionally’ granted flexible working arrangements which included home working requests.
