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The government's equality watchdog last night condemned a proposal from Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, to help companies survive the recession by scrapping improvements in parents' rights to flexible working.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission said it was disappointed by the "old-fashioned" thinking of those in government who regarded flexibility as a cost to business, when it should be seen as an opportunity to increase productivity.
Nicola Brewer, the commission's chief executive, released research by the parenting websites Mumsnet and Dad Info showing a huge pent-up demand for more flexible working.
A survey of more than 3,500 parents found 83% of fathers and 86% of mothers wanted to work flexibly. But more than two-thirds have not yet been able to achieve the working arrangements they would like.
The business department had been due to extend the right to request flexible working to parents with children up to 16, benefiting up to 4.5 million working mothers and fathers. Currently, only parents with children under six have the right. The initiative was praised by the prime minister at the Labour party conference last month.
But this week Mandelson instructed his officials to review all policies in the pipeline to make it easier for employers to survive the recession without shedding jobs.
Brewer said: "Genuinely flexible working is part of the solution, not part of the problem. Flexibility provides business opportunities to deal with turbulent times.
"The EHRC is disappointed to see the old-fashioned argument being made that flexibility has to be a burden, instead of a potential way to increase productivity in Britain. It need not be a business cost. It can be a business opportunity."
Flexible companies would be more able to retain talent, improve productivity and weather the economic storms, she added. The online survey by Mumsnet and Dad Info recorded the views of 3,549 parents with a partner living in the same house who shared responsibility for the children.
It found that 71% of fathers and 68% of mothers say the family does not have the working arrangement it would prefer; 39% of mothers and 40% of fathers say the family could not afford the arrangement it would prefer; 32% of mothers and 20% of fathers said their employer would not allow them to work flexibly; and 11% of mothers and 22% of fathers were worried about the long-term impact flexible working would have on their career.
Parents told the websites that negotiating flexible working appeared to have damaged their prospects. Mothers also reported discrimination at work when they told their employer they were pregnant, or after returning from maternity leave.
Justine Roberts, co-founder of Mumsnet, said: "If the government is supposed to be on the side of hard-working families, then this is a funny way of showing it."
Duncan Fisher, director of Dad Info, said: "In a recession parents will have to work longer hours to earn money for their families. This means flexible working is all the more important for child welfare in a recession."
Mandelson's review of the right to request flexible working was welcomed by the CBI, but criticised by the TUC.
A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said last night: "The government is determined to do all it can to help both families and employers in these tough economic times. The business benefits of flexible working are well documented. It can give both employers and employees mutual benefits, helping to keep businesses profitable and people in work.
"But it is only right that the government looks afresh at forthcoming regulations in light of the economic downturn. Absolutely no decisions have yet been made."
- Peter Mandelson
- Economic policy
- Equality
- Work-life balance
- Maternity & paternity rights
- Work & careers
- Children
- Recession
- Market turmoil
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