Nine out of ten UK employers have had “no significant problems” with flexible working requests since employees with children were given the right to ask for varied hours in April, according to new research.
The study, undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), found that two-thirds of businesses have agreed to at least half of all flexible working requests from staff, while just 13 per cent said that cost was an issue when considering applications.
Seven in ten firms said that they were happy to consider flexible working requests, while 68 per cent of employers felt that the new rights have boosted morale among staff.
According to the research, 60 per cent of companies believe that flexible working has not tipped the balance of rights too far in favour of working parents.
However, nearly half of those polled said that many of their workers who are not entitled to flexible rights are resentful of those who are.
As reported by Startups.co.uk, the government introduced flexible working rights, under EU law, in April.
Under the rules, employees with young or disabled children are entitled to request variable working hours to help with childcare arrangements, or can even ask to work from home.
Before the introduction of the regulations, several business groups voiced concern over the impact on small firms, citing the lack of cover in smaller companies and fears that business insurance wouldn’t apply to homeworkers.
However, most companies have now accepted the rules, although previous research suggested that take-up for the policy had been slow among UK firms.
Mike Emmott, of the CIPD, said that it’s still early days, but this evidence suggests that the impact of the new rights on both employers and employees is seen as overwhelmingly positive.
“In our view, the evidence gives no support to the cynics who argued that a right to request flexible working would be entirely ineffectual, or to those critics who feared it would be costly to apply.
“Employers are using the law to reinforce existing good practice. The legislation seems to have stuck about the right balance between encouragement and enforcement,” he said.
Patricia Hewitt, the trade and industry secretary, said that it was good news that employers are taking a sensible approach to flexible working.
“It’s still early days for the new rights but I am confident that our policies, building on the practice of the best, will help accelerate a change in workplace culture to allow parents to get a better balance between work and family life,” she said.
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