Flexible Working Taskforce gets underway

The new group will meet for the first time today after being established following publication of the Taylor Report into modern employment practices.The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which set up the taskforce, is seeking to promote wider understanding and implementation of inclusive flexible work and working practices.It will bring together policymakers, employer groups, unions and employee representative groups, research groups and professional bodies.

Flexible working rights take-up stalled

Workforce data and soon-to-be-published research from the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, shows uptake of most types of flexible working by employees has largely plateaued over the last decade. This is despite the right to request being available to all.The taskforce will:

• work to understand the reasons behind this
• clarify the benefits of flexible working for individuals and organisations across the many different options and practices
• develop the evidence and understanding as to the most effective ways to increase the provision and support.

The CIPD says that an important first priority for the group will be to take on the Prime Minister’s challenge to businesses to improve workplace equality by advertising all jobs as flexible from day one in employment. The taskforce will also feed directly into the evaluation of the effectiveness of the Right to Request Flexible Working Regulations in 2019.

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Other news from Relocate Global:

• Call for parental leave reforms as policies 'failing fathers'
• Part-time work paves way to gender pay gap
• Trust lacking in gender pay audits to close gaps: survey

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Flexible work crucial to unlocking progression

Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD and co-chair of the Flexible Working Taskforce, commented that flexible working is key to unlocking employment and progression opportunities across many under-represented groups in the labour market.It can also play a crucial role in an organisation’s performance through enabling better work-life balance, improving employee engagement and retention and key outcomes including productivity and delivering more flexible service to customers."Despite this, uptake has remained low over the last few years," said Mr Cheese. "Our research shows that the main obstacles to employers providing flexible working arrangements include a lack of understanding and support amongst line managers and business leaders, and long engrained working cultures of presenteeism and tradition of standard working hours."There is much to learn from those employers whose flexible working practices are more inclusive and who are already seeing the benefits of a diverse, flexible and more engaged workforce.“HR is in a unique position to understand the barriers that are limiting an advance in flexible working for UK organisations, and identify how flexible working options can benefit both the organisation and individuals. We’re here to encourage, challenge and support government and organisation’s efforts to create a seismic cultural change and greater take up of flexible working for everyone.” 

Flexible working and productivity

Business minister Andrew Griffiths said: “We have record employment in the UK and now the challenge is to make jobs higher-quality and high-skill to boost earning power and productivity as part of our Industrial Strategy. “Genuine two-way flexibility between employers and employees is key to achieving quality jobs and giving employers access to a bigger pool of potential talent in the labour market including amongst women, older workers, carers and disabled people."The Prime Minister has called on employers to make jobs flexible from day one to help close the gender pay gap and our new joint taskforce will look at how employers could achieve this, what works well already and how we can remove obstacles to flexible working.”

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Read more about the future workplace in the Winter issue of our magazine 

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For related news and features, visit our HR section. Relocate’s new Global Mobility Toolkit provides free information, practical advice and support for HR, global mobility managers and global teams operating overseas.Access hundreds of global services and suppliers in our Online Directory 

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