Most firms now offer staff some form offlexible working, says the
government's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory
Reform (BERR).
The latest Work-Life Balance Employer Survey commissioned by the
Department for BERR says 95% of workplaces now offer some form of
flexible working to staff.
The Department surveyed 1,500 workplaces that employ five or
more people for its research.
It found the number of workplaces providing childcare
facilities, or other arrangements to help parents combine work with
family commitments, has more than doubled since 2003, from 8% to
18%.
Pat McFadden, minister for employment relations, said the survey
was an endorsement for the Government's staged approach to
introducing flexible working.
"We have developed a staged approach for employees to request
flexible working, which is proving effective - from giving the
right to request flexible working to parents with children under
six on to carers of disabled children under 18 and adults.
"We will now be discussing the best way to extend the right to
request to parents of older children, so that businesses, parents,
carers and families can all benefit."
The survey found that employers offering reduced working hours
had increased to 74%, up from 40% in 2003.
Employers offering compressed hours working had increased to
41%, up from 19% in 2003.
And the availability of job sharing and flexi hours had
increased substantially to 59% and 55% respectively.