Monday, January 07, 2008
The Governments has plans to extend the right to request flexible employment for employees with children up to the age of 17, promising to "bring forward proposals to help people achieve a better balance between work and family life".
John Hutton, secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, said: "The right to request flexible working not only helps millions of parents juggle work and family life, but can also benefit business by improving staff retention and productivity. Now is the right time to consider how we can extend the right to request to parents of older children".
The current right to request flexible working currently covers parents with children under six, or 18 in the case of a disabled child.
Many employers’ organisations are concerned at the extra burden that implementing the new rules will place upon employers already weighed down by red tape. Also of concern is the likelihood that many smaller employers will end up in Tribunal through inability to comply correctly with ever more complicated legislation.
John Cridland, deputy director-general at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said: "The CBI welcomes the government's plan to review when and how the right to request flexible working will be extended to parents of older children. It should beware of increasing numbers eligible to request too far too fast, however, as this could jeopardise the future flexibility of those currently eligible."