Don't fear flexible working, small firms told
Entrepreneurs running small businesses should not fear government plans to extend flexible working, an expert has said.
Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, a not-for-profit initiative which promotes smarter working practices, made the claim following criticism by SME lobbyists of the announcement on Thursday that the right to work flexibly is to be extended to an extra 4.5m workers.
Among those against the change is the Federation of Small Businesses which said it could prove to be "a nightmare for small firms" who find it more costly than their large counterparts to deal with new employment regulations.
Meanwhile many respondents to a poll currently running on UK Business Forums have expressed similar fears.
"If flexibility is what your workers need and it can be done, most good managers allow it but it is completely impossible in many cases and it is going to require yet more forms to apply to get out of it," one said.
Another entrepreneur taking part said: "Our business operates Monday to Friday 8.30-5.30 and Saturday 9-1. We are a small company with six employees. I need all staff in Monday to Friday and we rotate to cover Saturday. There is no way we can be more flexible than "all in" or we wouldn't be able to operate."
But Flaxton said SMEs need to "take a practical systematic approach" and devise "a plan for the implementation of flexible working in the organisation".
"Smarter working has been shown time and again to increase staff productivity and reduce costs, as well as improving staff wellbeing and providing a better work-life balance," he added. "BT has been pioneering the concept of smarter working for over a decade and has seen productivity improvements of 20%."
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AccountingWEB.co.uk - 16-May-2008
Categories: News
Story read: 1655
Number of comments: 1
What about the rest of us
Shona Wardrop, 21 May 2008 @ 13:19 PM
What most people seem to forget is that those of us without families, and therefore without the right to request flexible working, almost always end up taking the strain when colleagues are not there outwith core hours or when the customer actually needs their help.
In one previous job, a tax colleague worked very flexible hours for family obligations and frankly I eventually refused to take calls from her clients because I got so fed up either constantly explaining that she was unavailable, or running around meeting her clients urgent needs instead of getting on with my own work.
Gaining productivity from the worker with flexible hours could mean creating resentment in others.
