There is a big new survey on work-life balance and flexible working out today from the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
The press release accompanying the full report stresses that 92% of workplaces offer some form of flexible working to at least some employees, and highlights a growing trend for men to request flexible working.
The Third Work-Life Balance Employee Survey, conducted in 1,462 workplaces, found that:
* Part time working is available in 92% of workplaces, up from 81% in 2003;
* Employers offering reduced hours working had increased (74%, up from 40% in 2003);
* Employers offering compressed hours working had increased (41% up from 19%);
* The availability of job sharing and flexi hours had increased substantially (59% up from 39% and 55% up from 39% respectively);
* 92% of employers said they would consider a request to change working patterns from any employee; and
* 7% of employers said they should make a special effort to accommodate the particular difficulties parents of young and disabled children face in balancing work and family life.
Responding to the report, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said the DBERR was "right to highlight the rise in flexible working, and right to credit the light-touch 'right to request' legislation as playing a part in the rise".
But it also claimed that the government was "guilty of moving slowly for fear of upsetting the likes of the CBI, and risks exacerbating divisions between parents and non-parents in the workplace if they refuse to extend the ‘right to request’ to all".
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