HR Industry News

UK a nation of flexible firms

— 25 April 2007 —

Nine out of ten UK employers offer their staff some degree of flexible working, a new report has revealed.

Produced by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the report entitled Work and Life: How Business is Striking the Right Balance, provides an overview of what UK businesses are doing to help employees strike the right balance between work and their home life.

The study of 408 business found that 89% provided their employees with some form of flexible working with 72% offering part-time working.

More than two thirds offer variable working hours and 38% said they allowed staff to work from home. As a result of such arrangements, seven out of ten firms said they had seen an improvement in employee relations.

More than half of them had also seen improvements in productivity and staff retention.

In response to the findings, the report calls for practical guidance about how employers can work more flexibly at low cost, rather than increased legislation.

We need to gain a deeper understanding of flexible working, as it can range from letting someone go early right through to sabbaticals, annualised hours, phased retirements etc.Paul Avis, Corporate Development Manager, Ceridian

The BCC’s director of policy and external affairs, Sally Low, said the debate on flexible working now needs to shift away from what employers are not doing to focus on what they are, and try to identify the real barriers to greater flexibility.

Paul Avis agrees, “Evidence-based case studies of best practice are possibly the best way to share knowledge and information: the positive and not the punitive approach should always be the way forward.”

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