As the Queen’s Speech confirms the Government’s intention to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service, research from the CIPD reveals that only 4% of employers have had difficulties complying with the current right to request flexible working since it was introduced nearly 10 years ago.
With 96% of employers providing flexible working arrangements to at least some employees, the CIPD research, Flexible working: provision and uptake, finds that seven out of ten employers report that flexible working supports employee retention, motivation and engagement. Almost two thirds of employers believe flexible working supports their recruitment activities and half believe it has a positive impact on reducing absence as well as on boosting productivity. However the study, based on a survey of more than a 1,000 employers and 2,000 employees, shows the type of flexibility commonly used is quite limited. While the use of part-time working (32%), flexitime (25%), home working (20%) and mobile working (14%) is comparatively common, other types of flexible working are hardly used. Just 5% of workers use compressed hours, 2% use term-time working, and 1% job share.
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