ePolitix.com Stakeholders comment on the flexible working hours debate.

An Equal Opportunities Commission survey found that while flexi-time is available in around 90 per cent of German and Swedish companies, just 48 per cent of British firms offer it.

And only 20 per cent of UK employers offer tele-working, compared to around 40 per cent in Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

Party Response: Labour Party

Employment relations minister Jim Fitzpatrick said: "Its appalling that David Cameron is using flexible working as an excuse for cuts to childcare and Sure Start which is helping thousands of working parents.

"David Cameron revealed his childcare cuts today when he announced that the Tory flexible working plan would mean 'very substantial potential savings to the Exchequer' such as 'through a decrease in the need of childcare provision'.

"After repeatedly voting against flexible working, David Cameron's sudden attempts to portray himself as a convert were always a bit of a joke. But no-one is laughing now his real motives have been revealed.

"His purpose is clear - he wants to use flexible working as an excuse for scrapping childcare provision up and down the country in order to try to pay for his unfunded tax cut pledges."

Party Response: Conservative

George Osborne, shadow chancellor, said: "Britain's small businesses are making flexible working a reality for millions of people across the country.

"Not only are they meeting their legal obligations to allow parents to request flexible working hours, but over a quarter of all small companies have chosen to go even further.

"These farsighted businesses are offering the right to request flexible working hours to any worker with care responsibilities, and in many instances, opening it up to all of their employees.

"This is social responsibility in action, both employees and employers can really benefit from flexible working."

Party Response: Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat women and equalities spokesman Lorely Burt said: "Workers in the UK deserve flexible working just as much as their counterparts in the EU.

"It is shameful that half as many British firms make flexi-time available, compared to our European competitors.

"The government should encourage flexible working to ensure businesses can attract and retain top staff.

"British workers must be able to combine family life with their career."

Stakeholder Response: Federation of Small Businesses

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The FSB said: "Where possible businesses would support more flexible working. 

"Often the employer that offers the best employment conditions can attract the best workers. 

"Members of the FSB often tell us that they find it difficult to find skilled employees and therefore they will do all they can to retain good staff when they find them.
 
"However, there has to be flexibility from the politicians as well. 

"There will be times when it will not be appropriate to offer flexible working in some roles or some businesses. 

"Therefore, legal compulsion is going too far. Working conditions should be agreed between the employer and the employee. 

"When the government gets involved it can create conflict where before there was harmony in a workplace because some people are given rights that other workers do not have. 

"In smaller businesses flexible working is arranged informally with people arranging to cover for colleagues in an exchange of an hour here or there. 

"Legislation could restrict that in future in a way that politicians would not have intended.
 
"Businesses need to be able to manage their staffing levels to run and to meet the needs of their customers. 

"The average FSB member employs four people and losing one member of staff for a period of time can be tough. 

"Any size of business would struggle with a quarter of the workforce missing so flexibility has to be the watchword for any legislation in the future to avoid binding the hands of entrepreneurs too tightly for them to be able to succeed."

Stakeholder Response: CIPD

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CIPD director general Geoff Armstrong said: "Despite misplaced talk of a 'long hours culture', the UK has a flexible pattern of working time that is the envy of most of our continental cousins.

"Our tight labour market has created intense competition for talented and motivated people, and this has been helped by the informal nature of flexible working arrangements that meet the needs of both employers and employees.

"Employees who feel able to balance their lives in and outside work are much more likely to go that extra mile as their part of the bargain.

"Employers benefit from high levels of employee engagement and a wider talent pool.

"Enlightened management of people, and particularly flexible working, can make a huge contribution to business performance."

Stakeholder Response: Unite

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Roger Jeary, director of research, said: "One of the main reasons stress and mental illness are on the increase is that working hours in the UK are longer than anywhere else in Europe, and most of the rest of the world. It is well established – and obvious – that excessive hours contribute to health problems, including stress.

"The European Parliament recognised that long working hours are a serious problem and 14 years ago introduced the Working Time Directive (WTD), aimed at setting limits on working time, which all European Community countries had to bring in through their domestic legislation.

"It took the UK government five years to implement the WTD via the Working Time Regulations (WTR), hardly a sign of enthusiasm for the aim. But even when it did, it did so in ways that minimised the effect for many workers.

"Firstly the UK's opt-out clause gave employees the 'option' to not limit their working time to 48 hours per week.

"This let unscrupulous employers give employees little choice but to feel that signing an opt-out was necessary to progress in their job, and in some cases was required to even get and keep the job.

"The opt-out should have been phased out by now, but the UK government has led the campaign to prevent this happening, effectively leaving progress on working time at a stalemate in Europe.

"Secondly, the government has had to be taken to court in Europe frequently, in order to get it to enforce the WTR.

"Unite, Amicus Section, has led this legal campaign, and has been winning at every stage, on the issue of entitlements to rest periods and breaks, unpaid overtime, and with other unions winning on issues such as rolled-up holiday pay.

"Unite and other unions won a commitment from the government to stop employers including bank holidays in employees’ legal holiday entitlement, and this will be put into place over the next 18 months, effectively giving the most vulnerable workers up to 8 days additional holiday, and Unite will continue to fight for members' rights to utilise their entitlements.

"Unite has produced comprehensive advice on stress management for our members, and introduced stress courses for union reps.

"But the main cause of stress is ultimately that many employers do not manage their employees’ workloads properly, and often when employees are absent with stress problems, they later return to work with the same problems as nothing has been done to address the causes of their stress – their job."

Stakeholder Response: Carers UK

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Carers UK said: "There are more than three million people in the UK who combine work with caring for an ill, frail or disabled family member or friend. 

"Three in five people will become carers at some stage in their lives. Work is important for well-being, income and to avoid social exclusion. 

"Earlier this year 2.6 million carers in the UK gained the right to request flexible working.

"This was an extremely welcome step, but we need to go further in encouraging employers to recognise the needs of carers in their workforce and providing the support they need to remain in work.

"In the same way that parents require appropriate childcare to enable them to work, we also need social care services that are flexible and reliable and recognise carers’ rights to make choices about combining work and care.

"Carers are likely to have very individual support needs to continue working – and the evidence shows that a supportive employer can make all the difference between giving up work and staying in employment.

"Simple measures like access to a telephone or flexible arrangements during a period of intense care can make all the difference.

"Each year over two million people become carers – some overnight; some more gradually – so each day sees a new population of carers in the workforce.

"As the population ages, many more people will have caring responsibilities at the same time as we need more skilled workers in the economy.

"Many businesses are already seeing the benefits of flexible work patterns for their employees in greater staff retention, higher skill levels and cost-efficiencies. 

"Good flexible working arrangements need planning but they need not be difficult, and could pay huge dividends to the economy and society."

Stakeholder Response: Chartered Management Institute

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"The EOC is also right to point out that organisations should consider the different forms of flexible working. Different approaches will be appropriate for different organisations.

"The Institute’s research shows that annualised hours, for instance, would be a popular policy for many managers.

"This allows for longer hours to meet deadlines or seasonal peaks in demand, without requiring continuously long hours.

"Alternatives such as compressed working weeks or the option to work remotely are also popular."

"Managers will even make decisions on job offers with the availability of flexible working in mind.

"If UK organisations fail to embrace flexibility in the workplace, they risk damaging productivity in the long-term as they will fail to attract the best and most talented individuals."

The Institute's 'Motivation matters' and 'Quality of working life' reports are available at www.managers.org.uk/researchreports. 

Stakeholder Response: Play England

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Play England said: "We support the calls for flexible working arrangements to be addressed.

"In particular we have signed up to a campaign recently launched by Compass, calling for a Charter for Children; and would encourage others to do the same.

"One of the specific asks of the Charter is for, ‘the strengthening of flexible working arrangements for all parents and carers to enable them to spend more time with their children.'

"Signatories to the campaign led by Helen Goodman MP, include individuals and organisations working to improve outcomes for children and young people."