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In this article Pat
McFadden, Minister for Employment Relations,
sets out the reasons why the government
favours flexible working, and is extending
the ‘right to request’ flexible working to
more people. Pat McFadden is Minister
of State for Employment Relations and Postal
Affairs at the Department for Business,
Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (This
article was originally published in a
supplement we produced distributed with The
Times newspaper in June 2008) |
Flexible working makes good business
sense. The benefits for employees are clear and
increased productivity and lower recruitment
costs are just two of the direct benefits for
business. I strongly believe that flexible
working provides businesses the opportunity to
adapt to the needs of their employees and
thereby retain a highly-skilled, experienced
workforce. There are benefits in terms of
reduced vacancy costs, increased skill retention
and reduced absenteeism for businesses. I am
encouraged that 95% of businesses now offer
flexible working arrangements – whether reduced
hours, flexi-time or compressed hours.
Instead of business fighting against the
change in work patterns, the majority have
positive views about promoting the work-life
balance.
Indeed, research shows that 92% of employers
understand that people work best when they can
strike a better balance between work and the
rest of their lives. Almost half of new mothers,
for example, work flexi-time and the proportion
of mums who have changed their employer since
returning to work halved from 41% in 2002 to 20%
in 2006. And since the formal right to request
flexible working was introduced in 2003, only 9%
of requests are declined compared with 20%
previously. At present, over six million
employees have the right to request flexible
working patterns, but some 14 million people
actually work flexibly. We have recently
announced that we will extend the right to
request flexible working to a further 4.5
million parents who have children up to the age
of 16, meaning more than 10 million people will
be eligible to make a right to request. This
extension was borne from a review into flexible
working conducted for the Government by Imelda
Walsh, HR director of Sainsbury’s. We will
shortly consult on implementing this extension.
Our aim is to amend current flexible working
regulations with effect from April 2009. We
are also committed to addressing the needs of
all workers and we are keen that flexible
working should not be considered a 'women's
issue'. Of the 14 million employees currently
working flexibly the latest figures show men
make up 45% of them. The increasing earning
power of women also suggests that flexible
working now, and in the future, is far from
being an issue that affects only women. We will
therefore continue to work with business to
promote the availability of flexible working for
all employees. It’s clear the benefits of
flexible working for employers and their
employees go hand-in-hand. Retaining skilled,
experienced workers is a key priority for every
business. The introduction of flexible working
rights has had a positive effect on the UK
workforce and I believe will continue to do so.
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