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Flexible hours plan for parents to start on time
Danny Brierley, Evening Standard27 Aug 2008
The Government has rejected calls for a delay to new flexible working hours for parents - despite the pleas of business leaders who say they will put an extra burden on firms already under economic pressure.
The plans released by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform mean parents with children as old as 16 - at present the age limit is six - can ask their employers for flexible working hours from April.
Employers have less than eight months to prepare for an extra 4.5million staff gaining the right to request flexible working.
More than a quarter of a million employees will change their working hours as a result of the new regulations, according to government forecasts.
Ministers have rejected business calls to delay the regulations in the face of an economic downturn.
Despite pleas from industry experts, the department said it was confident companies would have sufficient time to cope with the changes.
It has been accused of failing to understand the climate companies are operating in as the credit crunch and an economic slowdown take hold.
The CBI asked for the new rights to be delayed until October next year, while other employers' groups called for them to be put back until 2010.
David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "I 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."
The Government has offered to waive the requirement for employers to confirm in writing agreements to let employees work part-time, which could save employers £28million a year.
