Government to Increase Flexibility in Employment Contracts
February 9th, 2010
In an effort to help build a friendlier and productive employer employee relationship the government is contemplating on whether it should extend flexible working rights so that all employees could request for flexible working at the start of a new job.
The current legislation allows parents of very young children to request their employer to work flexibly. The employer could change working days and hours, and could offer the employee the option to work from home. Any person who has already put in more than 26 weeks of service can exercise their right to flexible working provided they were the only ones available to care for people with special needs. This could include children who were below the age of six, or children below the age of 18 if they were disabled and adult relatives or anyone else needing care who was living at the same address as the employee.
Yvette Cooper, who is the Work and Pensions Secretary, said in an interview with The Guardian that this move was a smart one as many employers had reported that their businesses had benefitted because they allowed their employees to work flexibly. She added that employers were working closely with her office to develop new ways to carry out wider flexible working arrangements and the government was re-working the legislation in an effort to support different ways of offering flexible working.
She said that this was essential if a company wanted employees to offer flexible working right from the start. She also said that there would be some areas where flexible working would not be viable, as the business needs might not allow it. However, she urged companies to undergo a cultural change so that they could think differently on this issue and become more accommodating.
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