The government's announcement on flexible working for parents includes the news that the new right will be introduced in one go, for employers of all sizes - and not staged.

In a commissioned report [pdf, 139kb] on flexible working, Imelda Walsh, HR director of Sainsbury's, recommended not to extend the right to all employees, saying that there is nothing to stop employers who wish to do so from doing it voluntarily.

She also pointed out that more work should be done to raise awareness of the right to request flexible working, both among employees and employers and to overcome the notion that parental time off is just a women's issue. She points out that men are parents too, but are nearly twice as likely to have their requests refused than women (23% vs. 13%).

In a further announcement, the government has said that it will be introducing a legal right for employees to request time to train. This will be modelled on the existing right to request flexible working.

According to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, the proposed legislation would work so that:

● employees can ask their employer for time to train, where the training will benefit both them and the employer;
● requests do not have to be about accredited programmes, but might simply be for short, unaccredited, training;
● the employer must consider a request carefully, but could decline it for a good business reason;
● there will be no requirements on employers where an employee was recruited less than 26 weeks previously;
● employers agreeing a request can agree to meet the employee's salary during training if they wish, but are not obliged to do so if it is 'off the job' training;
● employers agreeing a request can organise the training if they wish, and indeed pay for it, but there is no obligation to do so. Work-based training would naturally count as 'time to train';
● alternatively the employee may need to arrange their own training, perhaps through a local college, but will benefit from being released from work. The employer would not be expected to pay towards this if they did not wish to do so; and
● the practical arrangements which employers would follow would be modelled on the existing right to request flexible working, with which many employers are by now familiar. Appeals to employers, and tribunal arrangements, would also follow that system.