Overwhelming business support for flexible working
A major new report from the Institute of Directors (IoD) and Unum, ‘Flexible Working – the new world of work’, reveals evidence of overwhelming support for flexible working practices amongst UK companies. In a survey of 500 business leaders, 86 per cent say their organisation operates flexible working practices and 93 per cent say they would operate flexible working even if there was no legislative requirement.
The report also shows that 50% believe that flexible working had resulted in a “noticeable impact on the bottom-line”, with the main driver of flexible-working practices being recruitment, retention and supporting business needs.
A recent survey on maternity, paternity and parental rights policies Equal Opportunities Review (EOR) produced similar results. The EOR survey found that few employers have encountered difficulties in the administration of maternity, paternity or parental rights.
The EOR survey also found that keeping-in-touch days, introduced from 1 April 2007, appear to have proved beneficial to employers and employees. The only major area of concern was administrative difficulties with the proposal to extend paternity leave to be taken in place of the mother’s additional maternity leave.
You can find out more about the IoD report at:
http://www.iod.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/pdfs/policy_paper_flexible_working.pdf
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