Parents gain flexible working right

[enaid]

Parents gain flexible working right

The right to ask employers for flexible work arrangements have been extended to 4.5 million parents of older children.

Harriet Harman backs flexible working extension

The Government said the move to include parents of children aged 16 and under is aimed at helping families balance their work and home lives.
Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, said mothers often "tear their hair out" trying to earn a living while bringing up children.
Since 2003, the right to ask firms to work flexible hours was limited to parents of children up to the age of six or disabled children aged up to 18.
A total of 10 million will now be entitled to request flexible working, an extension which was recommended last year following an independent review.
Research among 1,000 parents, published to coincide with the announcement, showed half believed their relationship with their child would improve if they could work flexibly.
Two thirds of those surveyed by the Government's Equalities Office said it would be helpful to work flexibly as their children became older.
Half of parents of children aged between 11 and 16 said they would help with homework if they could find the time.
Ms Harman said: "Children don't stop needing their parents' time when they reach their sixth birthday. We have already built a strong foundation of support for families through the right for parents with children under six to request flexible work. But, as any parent knows, older children going through the teenage years need just as much support and guidance."
Official figures showed that 14% of men and 22% of women had asked to work flexible hours in the past two years, with 53% of men and 66% of women having their request accepted.

[Legal Beagles]

Flexible hours for parents of under-16s


• More than 10m parents eligible under law change
• CBI uneasy about effect on an economy in recession
Millions of parents with children up to the age of 16 will be able to request flexible working from their employers from today, under a change to the law which will dramatically increase the number of people entitled to ask for more family-friendly conditions.
Legislation introduced in 2003 allowed parents with children under the age of six to request flexible working from employers who were obliged to "seriously consider" any application and only reject it if there were "good business reasons for doing so".
Today's change means that an extra 4.5 million parents will now have the right to ask for flexible working, in addition to the 6 million parents and carers already eligible.
"Children don't stop needing their parents' time when they reach their sixth birthday," Harriet Harman, minister for women and equality said. "As any parent knows, older children going through the teenage years need just as much support and guidance. Mothers often tear their hair out trying to balance earning a living with bringing up their children and need more flexibility at work. And fathers want to be able to play a bigger part in bringing up their children."
The law gives all employees with children aged 16 and under and who have worked for a company for more than six months the right to ask for flexible hours - which could mean anything from working from home, working part-time, working agreed hours over fewer days, term-time working to job-sharing. Whether or not the employer agrees depends on whether they believe the arrangement would have a detrimental impact on the business. Employees only have the right to ask for child-friendly working arrangements but there is no guarantee that they will be granted them.
Business secretary Lord Mandelson is reported to have attempted to postpone the extension of the flexible working provision, which was promised last December, amid concern about the costs to companies which are struggling because of the recession, but he was overruled.
The Confederation of British Industry was uneasy over the timing of the announcement. "Although we accept the extension of the right to request flexible working, we don't think now, in a recession, is the best time to implement it," said John Cridland, the deputy director-general.
Sarah Williams-Gardener, director of Opportunity Now, which campaigns for gender equality in the workplace, welcomed the government's progressive approach. "The majority of workplaces are still designed around a mid-20th century lifestyle, with an outdated approach to where, when and how work happens," she said.
Damion Queva, founder and publisher of Fathers Quarterly magazine, has introduced flexible working for his team of abut 10 full and part-time staff members. "When I started out, I wanted my employees to be absolutely dedicated, to get in half an hour early, to leave half an hour late, and I'd be checking over my shoulder to make sure that they were sitting there at their desks," he said. "But I have evolved and I now I believe it genuinely makes more sense to allow people to work flexibly." He was rewarded with greater loyalty from his staff, he said.

• Work-life balance
• Equality
• Harriet Harman
• Work & careers
• Parents
• Family finances

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[Amethyst]

Re: Parents gain flexible working right

Well really with the changes for parents on Income Support to Jobseekers at a younger child age over next few years they have to offer better working hours if they realistically want all those parents with children over 7 in work.

[Amy]

Re: Parents gain flexible working right

More utterly useless rhetoric from Harperson.

I could be granted the "right" to flap my arms and fly to the moon - it wouldn't make it happen though would it.

Not to mention the fact that so many are losing their jobs and asking for anything over and above might just push that P45 in your direction a little sooner. Then again, that's more than likely what they are after - a few more on benefits.