Business displeasure as Cameron backs flexi hours for all parents

The Tory leader said that if elected he would allow all parents - not just those of undersixes, as at present - to request family-friendly hours.

He suggested that would be only a first step, saying his goal was for flexible working to be available to "as many people as possible".

Scroll down for more...

"Our ambition is that everybody should have this right, that this should become the norm," he said.

Mr Cameron's proposals would cover parents with children in education aged up to 18, or up to 16.

Aides said 18 had not been ruled out as a cut- off but it was "more likely" to be 16 following a period of consultation.

Mr Cameron told firms they risked failure unless they allowed more staff to work part-time, from home or in a jobshare.

He said flexible working improved productivity, reduced absenteeism and staff turnover and was also good for the environment because it cut down on the number of commuters.

Mr Cameron's policy pledge marked another major shift for the Conservative Party which has in the past focused almost exclusively on the negative impact of flexible working rights on business.

Dismayed employers' groups said he needed a "reality check". In a speech to the Equal Opportunities Commission Mr Cameron insisted flexible working was not a "soft or fluffy issue".

Scroll down for more

He said Britain had to be a "trailblazer of innovation" in the field, likening it to the first industrial revolution.

Too many workplaces suffered from a "culture of clock watching and what's become known as presenteeism - people hanging around but not really achieving very much", he said.

The proportion of the workforce that is male, under 40 and in fulltime employment was shrinking every year, said Mr Cameron.

Companies that remain "rigid" in their work patterns would deter women, older workers and those with other commitments, he said.

Mr Cameron praised BT, one of the pioneers of home and part-time working. Of its 92,000 UK-based staff, 11,500 work full-time from home and 62,000 do so part-time.

Its flexible working policies had reduced absenteeism to 3.1 per cent, compared to a national average of 8.5 per cent, he said.

The Tory leader said he would first work with businesses to make sure existing regulations are "as simple and easy to implement as possible".

"Next, we will extend the legislation on the right to request to all parents. And our ambition is to make flexible working available to as many people as possible."

Giving all parents the right to request flexible working would increase the total eligible by 4.5million.

Since 2003, 3.6million parents of children under six and disabled children under 18 have had the right to do so. It was extended to 2.65million carers of adults in March this year.

Employers can decline the requests but they have to give one of eight valid business reasons for doing so and 95 per cent are granted.

Employees can appeal internally against a refusal and then go to an employment tribunal where they can be awarded up to eight weeks' pay.

Matthew Knowles, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "The politicians who keep talking about extending flexible working need a reality check.

"Our average member employs four people. If one of them is off, that's a quarter of the workforce missing."

Sally Low, policy director at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "Survey work that we have undertaken shows that 89 per cent of businesses already offer some form of flexible working.

"Crucially they do this in a way that allows them to meet the needs of the employees whilst also meeting the demands of their business."

Manufacturers' organisation EEF, which represents 6,000 companies, was also unimpressed.

Deputy director of employment policy David Yeandle said: "If we keep on increasing all the different reasons people can use to say they can't be in the office, there won't be anyone left to do any work."

CBI deputy director general John Cridland said: "Employers have embraced flexible working and almost 95 per cent of all requests to work flexibly are being granted."

But Jenny Watson, chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission, said: "We welcome David Cameron's recognition that a cultural breakthrough is needed to make flexibility more widely available.

"This cultural change is vital for the future economic and social health of our country and will only happen if this right is extended to everyone."