Nine out of 10 requests by employees to work part time, jobshare, work from home or have a career break have been accepted by companies in the past year, new research shows today.
Nine out of 10 requests by employees to work part time, jobshare, work from home or have a career break have been accepted by companies in the past year, new research shows today.
A survey of more than 500 firms and public sector organisations such as the NHS, reveals a growing acceptance of flexible working arrangements across British industry.
The CBI says its study shows the boundaries of the traditional 9-5 working day are becoming more "blurred", partly as people try to cut their carbon footprint or avoid poor transport journeys.
Employers such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB Scotland and BT are among those to offer such options.
BT Scotland said its flexible working programmes "cut down on travel to work and have allowed us to save millions of pounds a year on property costs, including power and heating, by losing 4000 buildings from our estate".
The annual employment survey also reveals that a third of people reaching retirement age have asked if they could carry on working, with most of these requests also being accepted.
John Cridland, the CBI's deputy director-general said it was clear many older workers did not want to retire, partly for financial reasons, and because of the current downturn in the housing market.
He said: "There is a sea of change going on in the labour market. Most requests to work flexibly are being accepted, working from home is seen as good for business and more companies are worried about their carbon footprint."
The report comes as the government prepares to extend the rights of parents to request flexible working from those who have children aged five and under to those who have children aged between six and 16.
Mr Cridland said the government needs to recognise businesses are at the "limit" of what they could absorb in employment regulations.
"If employers aren't given breathing space from workplace legislation then jobs will be put at risk. Pointless rules about diversity are still on the cards, and employers feel they are making strong progress under their own steam without the need for rafts of new legislation."
A third of those surveyed said they had voluntarily conducted an audit to make sure women were not paid less than men for the same work.
Tim Watts, chairman of recruitment firm Pertemps, which helped with the study, said he now worked from home one day a week, adding he got more work done away from the office.
He confirmed recent reports that Polish workers were returning home and if they stayed in this country were looking for wages of at least £7 an hour.
"They will not work for the minimum wage any more."
Richard Lambert, director general of the CBI, said it was "worrying" that half of firms believed the UK was a less attractive place to invest in than five years ago.
TUC head of campaigns Nigel Stanley commented: "This survey reports some positive findings for staff, and we welcome any signs that employers are offering more flexible working and that they are prepared to trust staff to work from home.
"But it would be wrong to think that this survey is a scientific measure of all companies or all employees."
