Flexible working high on everyone’s agenda
The Coalition Government has
re-confirmed its commitment to extending the right to request flexible working
to all employees, with consultation starting shortly, just as a survey by
PricewaterhouseCoopers has found that flexible working is the most valued
benefit for staff.
In the document ‘The Coalition: Our
programme for Government’ the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition set out
proposals to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees. In
the Commons this month, BIS Minister Edward Davey was asked by Harriett Baldwin
MP what plans he has to fulfil this commitment. Mr Davey confirmed that the
Government will be extending the right and that the BIS will be consulting
businesses and listening to their views, with the hope of bringing in proposals
to the House later in the year.
This announcement
follows the publication of a survey by the firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, ‘Employees
rate work-life balance over bonus’, which has found that flexible working is
the most valued benefit for employees. Of the 1,167 respondents who took part
in the survey, 47% named it as their most important benefit, with bonuses in
second place, preferred by 19% of respondents. A higher number of employees see
an improved work-life balance as more attainable in the long term than
increased responsibility and salary.
June 2010
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