Flexi working rights welcomed

27.03.09

The right to request flexible working was introduced in 2003 for parents of children aged up to six and disabled children aged up to 18. It was extended to carers of adults in 2007. Thus more than 10 million people will have the right to request flexible working from April 6th. Flexible working embraces a wide variety of working practices, including compressed hours, working from home, or any pattern of hours other than the standard one in an organisation.

An independent review last year recommended that the right to request flexible working should be extended to 4.5 million parents of children aged up to 16. This was accepted by the Government and comes into effect on April 6th this year.

Kamaljeet Jandu, GMB National Equality and Inclusion Officer said “GMB welcomes this extension of the right to request flexible working to parents of older children. This is about balancing work and family life. Both workers and employers have felt the benefits of flexible working since the right to request was introduced in 2003.
95% of all requests for flexible working from working parents and carers are now accepted, as employers recognise the benefits more and more. Firms can still say no if they have legitimate business concerns.

Parenting doesn’t end as children get older. Extending the right to request will help more parents get the flexibility they need.”