Labour's flexi-work for parents angers business bosses: 'This is the last thing we need during a downturn'

All parents with children aged 16 or under will gain the right to request flexible working patterns from next April.

It means firms already battling an economic downturn have just eight months to prepare for hundreds of thousands of new applications.

New rights: Parents with children aged 16 or under can soon request flexible working patterns

Some employers' groups wanted the implementation postponed until 2010, while others lobbied for the system to be phased in gradually to allow companies time to manage the extra red tape.

However, ministers have refused to back down, in what is being seen as a victory for trade unions over business.

Last month, in a sop to unions, Gordon Brown agreed to give millions more parents the right to take unpaid time off to deal with family emergencies.

'The last thing we need at this stage in the economic cycle is to be adding more burdens on business,' said David Yeandle, head of employment policy at the Engineering Employers' Federation.

And David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, added: 'I just don't think this sends out the right message.

'The Government has to have an understanding of the climate that we're in. Let's see how the labour market pans out over the next year and then look at it.'

A CBI spokesman said: 'We recognise the Government plans to bring in these extensions.

'But in harsher economic times they also need to be particularly sensitive to business pressures, and so must try to keep any additional burdens to a minimum.'

More than six million workers already have the right to request flexible hours, including 3.6 million parents of children under six and 2.6 million carers of adults.

Under plans to extend the scheme, announced earlier this year, another 4.5 million parents will become entitled to demand family-friendly hours.

But there is concern over the burdens being placed on business, particularly small firms which operate on skeleton staffs.

Many bosses believe that simply processing requests will take up valuable time and resources, regardless of the difficulty in finding additional employees or getting colleagues to cover the workload.

Shadow Business Secretary Alan Duncan warned last night: 'Any new regulation is disruptive, all the more so at a time of severe economic pressure, and the Government never understands how disruptive they are. The sheer administration is often as much of a hassle as the regulation itself.'

Meanwhile, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development warned of divisions in the workplace between those eligible to request changes to their hours and those who are not.

The Tories have already pledged to extend flexible working rights to all parents with children under 18.

On Tuesday the Department for Business launched a consultation exploring ways to make dealing with flexible working requests easier for businesses such as reducing the paperwork involved.

'It is right to extend this successful scheme and help parents of older children access the flexibility they need,' said Employment Relations Minister Pat McFadden.

A departmental spokesman confirmed yesterday: 'The plan is still very much to introduce in April.'