The extension of the right to request
flexible workingto include parents of children up to 16 could
lead to an extra 4.5 million people asking to work from home.
Today sees the
introduction of rulesthatexpand the number of parents entitled
to request flexible working. It was previously for parents of
children up to the age of six or disabled children aged up to
18.
Businesses that grant flexible requests will have to ensure that
the technology is in place to enable workers to be productive.
A spokesman at the Federation of Small Businesses said
businesses will have to invest in technology to support an
inevitable rise in flexible working. "More and more staff are
proving they can be flexible and it is up to the employer to put
the technology in place to accommodate this."
But he said that althoughthe organisation does not question the
need for flexible working it thinks the timing could have been
better. "We would have liked a pause until the economy picked up
again."
Michael Calvert, UK general manager for Aastra, one of Europe's
leading manufacturers of business telephone systems, said the
regulations will cause problems for many businesses.
"Until now just 12%of the UK population has been equipped to
work remotely, a figure which will now increase rapidly. However,
most businesses are still unable to support flexible working
practices, so workers will struggle to reap the full benefits," he
added.
John Cridland, deputy director general at the CBI, said,"There
is a potential problem with the extension of the policy because
most firms can only agree to a certain number of staff working
flexibly before it creates operational problems. Therefore, giving
more people the right to request it could also mean more people
being denied it, and could risk a first-come, first-served
situation that is not ideal."