Employers attending a BIS conference on flexible working in London yesterday heard from Jenny Willott, employment law Minister, and others on the business benefits of flexible working and case studies on the practical steps employers have taken to manage flexible workforces successfully. Attendees also heard from Steve Webb (a Department for Work and Pensions Minister), John Timpson (Chair of Timpson), and representatives from Eversheds LLP, Timewise (flexible working experts) and ACAS.
Encouraging people and employers to think about flexible working has been a long-standing aim of the Government. The conference heard about businesses who had improved staff motivation and retention by supporting flexible working, The Timewise Foundation focused on the additional high quality candidates employers could attract if they made flexible working available in job advertisements. And Steve Webb made the case that an ageing population meant employers really need to consider flexible working as a way of managing an older workforce.
BIS organised the conference in the run up to employment law changes which will come into effect on 30 June. After that date, employees will have the right to request flexible working from their employer. As several speakers emphasised, it is a right to request and not to have – the employer is free to say ‘no’ if the business can’t accommodate flexible working at that time, but the employer will be required to deal with the request in a reasonable manner. As Jenny Willott argued, one of the basic ideas behind the policy is to encourage people to get a discussion going with their manager about flexible working. John Timpson and the Timewise Foundation gave examples of businesses who had encouraged their managers to be open to flexibility and creative in thinking about how flexible working can work in practice.
Another example is Healix, which BIS has brought in to star in a promotional campaign on the business benefits of flexible working. You can find out more on their success story here.
You can read a transcript of Jenny Willott's speech here. Let us know your thoughts - do you use flexible working? What is your experience?
Leave a comment