There are plans afoot to extend the right to request flexible working to those with older children. But should the government just bite the bullet and offer it to everyone, or is there no real need right now? Lucie Benson finds out.

Back in November last year, the Queen’s Speech saw the government promising to “bring forward proposals to help people achieve a better balance between work and family life”.

These proposals form part of the government’s plan to extend the right to request flexible working to parents of teenage children, who will potentially join those with children under six-years-old or with disabled children under 18-years-old, as well as carers of adults, who already have the right to request flexible working hours.

Now, Imelda Walsh, HR director at supermarket giant Sainsbury’s, is leading an independent review into how the current legislation can be extended. Walsh is expected to report her findings this spring, and a formal public consultation will follow, led by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).

The government’s latest Work-Life Balance Employer Survey, commissioned by BERR, found that a whopping 92 per cent of employers said they would consider a request to change a working pattern from any employee, despite current legislation. It also showed that, amongst those employers who had received a request in the previous year, only 9 per cent were turned down.

But is the government going far enough? Should the legislation simply be extended to all employees, regardless or whether they have children or caring responsibilities?

Sarah Veale, head of equality and equal rights at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) says most definitely yes. “If you end up with a situation where you just keep on adding different groups, it gets incredibly difficult to manage,” she remarks. “So our very firm recommendation is for the government to go the whole hog and say that all employees have the right to request flexible working, but also to devise some sort of code to indicate what would be a reasonable request.”

Freda Line, diversity advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), takes a similar view. “Our research from 2006 shows that, if you exclude part-timers, people with flexible working patterns are more engaged, more satisfied, more likely to be positive about their organisation, more likely to say their work is important and meaningful, and are less likely to quit,” she comments.

Think of your employer brand

If the thought of introducing tailored working hours for all staff causes you to develop a bit of a headache, you always reserve the right to refuse the request, if you believe there is a strong business case to do so. But remember, there is also potential for real benefits to your bottom line.

“The point about being able to offer and encourage greater flexibility is actually a part of your employer brand, and therefore a positive image that you can project into the labour market,” explains Line. “You wouldn’t see the really large companies in this country offering flexible working if they hadn’t already seen that their competitors were benefiting from it.”

Veale adds that it is hugely important to recruitment and retention. “Young people are now much more likely to find the employer attractive if they promote the fact that they have a flexible approach to the hours that can be worked. If you are recruiting in a labour market, that at the moment is quite tight, and if you can offer this very genuine perk, you will be streets ahead.”

One other problem with only allowing certain employees the right to request flexible working, is that it can cause feelings of resentment amongst other workers who aren’t covered by the legislation. “There is quite a lot of anecdotal evidence out there that shows that people who don’t have children or caring responsibilities resent the fact some other people are able to work flexibly,” says Line.

Veale agrees, and adds that, in terms of managing employees’ expectations, it is best to take a holistic approach. “That will get you proper buy in and will take you away from that resentment.”

Employers must remember, however, that with flexible working comes a few implications, including the challenge it presents to people management. “If you’ve got people working across different sites and at different locations, it is a much harder management job than it used to be, and this is a challenge for UK companies in how we manage a flexible workforce,” remarks Tom Hadley, director of external relations at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC).

One other issue, says Hadley, is the growing conception amongst employees that flexible working means they can suddenly work how they want to. “There is a huge momentum behind the whole flexible working agenda, which is fine, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that businesses sometimes can’t accommodate completely what employees would welcome.”

HR consultant Sandra Beale says the answer to this is to ensure effective policies are in place. “At the heart of flexible working is trust, and line mangers have to be vigilant about potential abuse. HR should manage flexible working requests in accordance with existing guidelines and a clear policy and procedure should be in place.”

Is there really a need to extend?

Research suggests that most employers are already offering some kind of flexible working to their employees anyway, so is there really a need for it to be a legal requirement and therefore create more red tape for employers?

The REC’s Hadley believes there is no urgent need at the moment. “A lot of it is common sense; most employers will listen to their employees and if they can accommodate it, and it is not going to have a negative impact on the business, then why would you not enable your employee to work flexibly? So it doesn’t really make that much difference as to whether it is a legal right or not.”

However, Veale says that whilst there are many good employers who are offering flexible working options to all staff already, without any legal regulations, there are still other companies that won’t. “We therefore need the legislation there to give employees the confidence to make the request,” she remarks. “We also need it to give an indication to all employers that the government expects them to be more sensitive to the fact that people have many demands on them.”

Plus, there are some workers out there who feel that flexible working is often just as important as issues such as pay. “People aren’t just going to work to earn as much money as they can, they also expect work to be rewarding and to allow them to do other things too,” says Veale. “So I think these are important issues that HR professionals will be taking on board.”