New flexible working rights come into play

Date: 7th April 2009

Parents in full-time work with children up to the age of 16 will from this week be able to request flexible working.

The change has come in as part of a raft of new measures from the department for business, which also include extending annual leave rights to 28 days and issuing automatic penalties to those employers who pay less than minimum wage.

For advice on how the reforms will take affect in the long-run, business managers should speak to their local accountant.

Pat McFadden, employment relations minister, said: "The change we are bringing in this month is about helping parents cope with work and family life.

"Both workers and employers have felt the benefits of flexible working since we first introduced the right to request."

Mr McFadden added that while managers could still decline requests on the basis of "legitimate business concerns", the vast majority were now accepted.

Meanwhile, the British Chambers of Commerce has called on the government to freeze the national minimum wage at this month's budget speech.