The right to request flexible working is to be extended to parents of all children aged under 18 from next April, as an 'interim measure', the government has announced.

Ministers said that extending the right to request – which is currently available for parents of children aged up to 17 – by an extra year would benefit an estimated 300,000 people and help create more flexible, family-friendly workplaces. With a consultation due on whether to make the right to request a universal benefit, Employment Relations Minister Ed Davey hinted that there is much more to come in this area of coalition policy.

"This immediate change will give parents of all children, regardless of age, the same right to request flexible working,” said Davey. “It will also make it simpler for employers and employees to identify whether they are eligible to make a request. The plans we'll unveil later this year are much more ambitious but these interim measures will help us learn valuable lessons and are an important first step."

The law gives eligible employees – which includes some carers of dependent adults - the right to put in a request to their employer for a more flexible working pattern, with the employer having to give a “clear business reason” for turning down any such request.

The CIPD has supported extending the right of request to all employees, a position shared by the TUC. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Extending the right to request and improving parental leave arrangements will help make Britain a more family-friendly place to work. Unions have always negotiated good flexible arrangements with progressive employers but some businesses need a push.”

But some business lobbyists oppose it on the grounds that it will create burdensome red tape.

“Flexible working can bring benefits to some businesses, but why formalise in law a process that takes place already when there is no evidence that extending the right would lead to more flexible working opportunities?” argued Alistair Tebbit, head of employment policy at the Institute of Directors.

Source: James Brockett, PM Online