FLEXIBLE WORKING
CIPD highlights business case for extending right to request flexible working
Only a tiny minority of employers have had difficulties complying with the current right to request flexible working since it was introduced nearly ten years ago, finds new research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
The CIPD is calling on the government to “hold its nerve” and go ahead with the extending the right to request flexible working to all employees in this week’s Queen’s speech. The current right to request flexible working, which covers parents of children aged up to 17 and disabled children up to 18 and some carers, was first introduced in 2003.
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The new study, "Flexible working: Provision and uptake", finds that small employers are least likely to report difficulties with the right to request legislation, and in all, three-quarters of employees make use of flexible working of some type. About one in three employees working for medium-sized and large organisations have no access to flexible working. Six in ten employees with no managerial responsibility who do not work flexibly would like to do so.
Ben Willmott, CIPD Head of Public Policy, said: “The CIPD has long been calling for the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees, despite claims from some quarters that the legislation is burdensome for businesses. Similar concerns were raised over a decade ago about the plans to introduce the statutory right to request flexible working for parents. Those fears have proved unfounded – regardless of size of organisation.”
He added: “Our report finds that just 3% of micro businesses and small businesses, 4% of medium-sized businesses and 5% of large businesses have reported problems complying with the existing right to request flexible working. Micro and small employers are more likely than larger organisations to manage flexible working informally rather than through formal policies and procedures, which appears to more than compensate for any lack of formal HR support.”
Key survey results
Types of flexibility
However, the CIPD study shows the type of flexibility commonly used is quite limited:
A final word
“The argument for extending the right to request to all employees is based on a broad business case. More than seven out of ten employers report that flexible working supports employee retention, motivation and engagement. Almost two-thirds of employers believe flexible working supports their recruitment activities, while half believe it has a positive impact on reducing absence as well as on boosting productivity.
“From the employee perspective, flexible working is linked to higher levels of employee engagement and wellbeing. Our report finds that employees satisfied with their work-life balance are more likely to be engaged and less likely to say they are under excessive pressure.
“This report shows that a significant proportion of those employees who don’t work flexibly would want to do so – particularly those below management level. It also finds that many flexible working solutions are not widely used, for example job sharing or the use of annualised hours – or are only available to more senior staff. Managers are much more likely to be able to work from home or benefit from mobile working than other members of staff and while, this is partly likely to be because of differences in the nature of the work between managers and their employees, in some organisations, it is because of culture and ingrained attitudes.
“Our report also shows that wild claims about the risk that extending the light-touch right to request legislation would lead to large numbers of tribunal claims are unfounded. The right to request flexible working has not contributed to any significant increase in employment tribunal claims. Put simply, flexible working works for business, and the government should hold its nerve and go ahead with the extension to all employees. The result will be good news for business, employers and the wider economy.” - Ben Willmott, CIPD Head of Public Policy.
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Title: Flexible working: Provision and uptake, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, May 2012.
Survey details: The report is based on survey responses from more than 1,000 employers and 2,000 employees. The employer survey is weighted to be representative of industry in the UK in relation to size, sector and type of business. The employee survey is weighted to be representative of the UK workforce in relation to sector and size (private, public, voluntary), industry type and full-time/part-time working by gender. Both surveys were conducted in early January 2012.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is “the world’s largest Chartered HR and development professional body, setting global standards for best practice in HR”. It has over 135,000 members across 120 countries. To find out more www.cipd.co.uk.