|
Flexible working for all parents of schoolchildren?
The Queen's speech
On 6 November 2007, in the first Queen’s speech since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, the Government outlined plans for millions of more parents to be able to request flexible working arrangements for those with children up to the age of 17.
At present the right applies only to parents with children under 6 or parents with disabled children under 18. The legislation, introduced in 2003, affected more than 3.5 million employees. Earlier this year, the right was extended to include carers of adults, which affect another 3 million employees. Now the right to request flexible working arrangements could be extended even further.
A great success
Speaking to the BBC, Cabinet Minister Ed Miliband said, “We introduced the right to request flexible working for parents with children under 6 and that has been quite successful for those parents who have been able to request it. We now want to extend that further up the age range to older children and we are looking at how we can do that working with business and others.”
New figures released this month showed that 91% of workplaces who received requests for flexible working in the last year approved all requests. According to the figures, managers are increasingly promoting flexible work practices. The 2007 Work-Life Balance Employer Survey, also published this month, found that availability of flexible working arrangements has greatly increased since 2003. Part-time working is now available in 92% of workplaces (compared to 81% in 2003). There have been large increases in the availability of reduced hours working for fixed periods (74%, from 40%). Job sharing and flexi time have also increased substantially (59% up from 39%; 55% up from 38% respectively).
While some 6.25 million parents currently have the right to request conditions such as flexi time or working at home, if it applied to all parents of school children, a further 4.5 million would also be covered.
Next steps
Downing Street has announced an enquiry by a leading industrialist into how the right to request flexible working could be extended to cover parents of children under 9, 12 or even 17 years of age. Imelda Walsh, Director of Human Resources at Sainsburys, will conduct a review of the implications of extending the right, with the Government explicitly stating that it wants to see the age limit increased.
Officials said that the Government would consult with business, which broadly supported the earlier reforms, before taking a final decision. A formal consultation will be held after the results of the review are published in the spring. This consultation will engage the views of business, employers, unions and other stakeholders and their views will be taken into account as part of the review process.
Further information
This e-briefing is sent to you by Anderson Strathern's Employment Department. We hope you find it useful. If we can help with any matters arising from this e-zine, or any employment law matter please contact Murray McCall, or any other member of our team.
|
