Employers 'reject' flexible working requests

Date: 28th May 2008

Employers are tending to reject requests from their staff to work from home, according to a recent study.

Research carried jointly by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and accountancy firm KPMG has shown that almost 70 per cent of employers reject such requests from their workers.

The figures come despite recently introduced regulations giving parents with children under the age of six and registered carers the right to ask permission to work from home.

Additionally, the CIPD and KPMG discovered that only eight per cent of employers believe homeworking reduces and individual's productivity, while 30 per cent are convinced of the reverse.

"Inflexible approaches to homeworking risk restricting the competitiveness and growth of UK organisations if employer and managerial mindsets do not change," said Gerwyn Davies, a policy advisor for the CIPD.

Meanwhile, the not-for-profit champion of home-based operating Work Wise UK continues to have the support of some of the country's biggest businesses and groups including the TUC and Confederation of British Industry.