The new
Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government
in the UK has set out a bold programme that focuses
on stimulating enterprise, reducing red tape,
promoting fairness.
Embedded within
the programme are a number of measures to boost
flexible working - measures directly promoting
flexibility, and others whose impact is likely to
encourage it.
Extension of
flexible working
All the parties
went into the election with an extension to the
'right to request' flexible working in their
manifestos. The Lib Dems and the Conservatives
had the more progressive policies here, and they
have come forward with a clear statement of intent
to extend the right to all workers:
"We will
extend the right to request flexible working to
all employees, consulting with business on how
best to do so."
The Conservatives
had proposed two areas to extend the right: to
parents of children under 18 (it is currently under
17), and to all public sector workers. We can
probably assume these extensions will happen quite
quickly.
For the remainder
of private sector workers, we can expect a review,
perhaps in the context of another commitment in the
programme:
"We will
review employment and workplace laws, for
employers and employees, to ensure they maximise
flexibility for both parties while protecting
fairness and providing the competitive
environment required for enterprise to thrive."
So employers can
look forward to some relaxation of current
regulations and red tape, and this will help those
employers fearful of flexible working to bite the
bullet.
We've always
moaned that the 'right to request' legislation
doesn't help those not in work. The coalition
programme also promises to build on current practice
and get Job Centres to ask employers to advertise
posts on a flexible basis.
Taxation policy
may boost part-time work
One way that the
coalition programme may have an impact on flexible
work is through the raising of tax thresholds,
aiming for the Liberal Democrat proposal of taking
everyone earning under £10k out of tax altogether:
"We will
increase the personal allowance for income tax
to help lower and middle income earners...[with]
a substantial increase in the personal allowance
from April 2011 ...
"We will
further increase the personal allowance to
£10,000, making real terms steps each year
towards meeting this as a longer term
policy objective. We will prioritise this over
other tax cuts"
This may
encourage more part-time working, helping to make a
move from benefits to part-time work more viable,
enabling parents and carers in particular to combine
work with caring responsibilities.
There is
also potentially an impact the Treasury won't like too
much. For a low income household it would be
more tax-efficient to have two people earning £9k
each than one person earning £18k, perhaps.
Flexible
parental leave
In recent years
there have been innovations in leave options around
childbirth. The programme proposes getting
more flexible with the allocation of maternity and
paternity leave, to encourage greater equality in
childcare responsibility:
"We will
encourage shared parenting from the earliest
stages of pregnancy – including the promotion of
a system of flexible parental leave."
This is no doubt
an area that both David Cameron and Nick Clegg
identify with, as parents of young children, one
having a new baby and the other with a baby on the
way too.
Focus on
start-ups and self-employment
The coalition
programme has a strong emphasis on enterprise -
supporting business, and encouraging new start-ups
and self-employment. Both manifestos
emphasised this, alongside the need to shrink the
state.
"We will make
it easier for people to set up new enterprises
by cutting the time it takes to start a new
business...
"We will
support would-be entrepreneurs through a new
programme – Work for Yourself – which will give
the unemployed access to business mentors and
start-up loans."
The only measure
in the programme specifically about supporting
home-based enterprise is the proposal to compel
social landlords to remove restrictions on tenants
running a business from home. However,
previous policy work in both parties has gone
further in stressing the importance of home-based
enterprise, particularly in rural areas.
Last year the
Conservatives produced 'A Conservative Agenda for
Rural Communities'. In this they said:
Home-based
businesses have been termed ‘a hidden engine in
the creation of sustainable rural communities’
due to the wide range of associated benefits
they offer. We recognise the potential of
homeworking not only to help revitalise rural
communities but as an important component of the
low carbon economy we want to create.
Improving
broadband access is an important condition for
business growth across the country, but nowhere
more so than in rural areas, where connection
speeds are slower and a much higher proportion
of businesses operate from home.
We will work
to bridge the ‘digital divide’ by using money
such as the unused BBC digital switchover
funding to facilitate the investment required to
give remote areas better broadband coverage and
by supporting innovative solutions, such as
community broadband schemes, which can deliver
next generation connection at relatively low
cost."
The commitment to
delivering superfast broadband including delivery to
rural areas does find its way into the coalition
programme:
"We will
introduce measures to ensure the rapid roll-out
of superfast broadband across the country. We
will ensure that BT and other infrastructure
providers allow the use of their assets to
deliver such broadband, and we will seek to
introduce superfast broadband in remote areas at
the same time as in more populated areas."
This is a much
more robust approach than offered by the previous
government, and is good news for remote and mobile
working, not least those running a business from
home.
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