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Business Secretary John Hutton welcomed recommendations made by Imelda Walsh, the HR director of Sainsbury’s, which would extend the right to request flexible working to parents of children up to age 16. The government will now consult on the proposals.

Secretary of State for Business, John Hutton, said:

"This is an excellent report that can give a big boost to busy parents who need more help balancing work and family life. It can also help employers who often find they get the best out of mums and dads when they allow them to work flexibly.

"It is important that employers retain control over deciding whether it suits their business allow people to work flexibly, but extending the right to request to parents of older children will allow families to take priority when decisions are made."

Key findings of the review

The review also found:

• any change should be implemented at once, rather than a staged introduction, to avoid creating confusion for business and employees
• small businesses generally had a better record on accepting flexible working requests than larger ones
• business would benefit from increased information and guidance about dealing with flexible working requests
• flexible working should not be considered a 'women's issue', with 14 million employees currently working flexibly, and the latest figures showing men make up 45% of this figure. The increasing earning power of women also suggests that flexible working now, and in the future, is an issue that is far from being one that affects only women
• more work should  be done to raise awareness of the right to request flexible working, both among employees and employers. 

Around six million employees currently have the right to request flexible working (3.6 million parents and 2.65 million carers), but over 14 million employees, including part-time workers, actually work flexibly. 

Flexible working arrangements include working from home, part-time work, compressed hours, flexi-time or other arrangements agreed with employers.

91% of workplaces who received requests in the last year approved them all and BERR's Third Work-Life Balance Survey of employers shows they largely have positive views about promoting work-life balance.

A formal consultation on the review's proposals is being held to gauge the views of business, employers, unions and other stakeholders.

Further information

• Right to request flexible working: extending the right to request flexible working to parents of older children (PDF, 139KB) Opens new window

More from Directgov

• Flexible working and work-life balance: an introduction (employment section)