PM backs flexible working for UK parents

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has launched a review to determine how the current right to request flexible working can be extended to parents of older children.

Around 14 million UK employees work flexibly, or have done so within the last 12 months, with arrangements including working from home so they can care for their family, working part-time, compressed hours or flexi-time, according to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Currently parents with children under the age of six and those with disabled children under the age of 18, can ask to adopt such practices. This accounts for 6.25 million parents.

If this right was extended to parents of children under the age of 17, there would be an extra 4.5 million parents eligible to ask for flexible working, according to figures from 10 Downing Street. This could mean extra pressure on companies to provide high-tech methods of allowing people to stay in touch while out of the office.

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But not all corners of the corporate world were happy with the suggestion to give more people the right to flexible working practices. John Wright, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the government must recognise the reality is employees need to be at work to enable their company to make money, pay their wages and grow to employ others.

Wright added the employer must continue to have the final say in granting flexible working to allow employees to benefit where appropriate but also ensure the needs of the business are still met.

The review will determine how - not whether - to extend the age range where parents can request flexible working.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked Imelda Walsh, human resources director at Sainsbury's, to lead the independent review.

The review will involve business representatives, parent groups, unions and other interested parties in considering how to change the current flexi-working system.