The CBI have praised the governement’s task force on working parents for coming up with a solution that raises the status of flexible working without giving tribunals the right to over-rule employers’ decisions on hours.

The head of the CBI, Digby Jones, said that the deal would still impose a new burden on small companies, but emphasised the positive opportunities for business in using flexible working to draw from the widest possible pool of potential employees. “There is a reservoir of talent out there that businesses of all sizes need to tap into. With this assurance of flexibility, it is now for business to make the most of it for the good of wealth creation on a socially-inclusive basis.”

The CBI’s deputy director-general John Cridland was a member of the Work and Parents Taskforce.

New opportunities for parents to apply for flexible working hours