Employee mobility is not something to be feared

It is unfortunate that the secretary of state John Hutton believes that a move to extend the right to ask for flexible working would alienate employers (Personnel Today, 19 February).

Increasingly, employers are recognising that technology is now available to allow staff to work productively and efficiently outside traditional working patterns. In fact, the CIPD and the British Chambers of Commerce found flexible working actually improved the bottom line of small companies and reduced employee stress levels.

T-Mobile research found that 57% of small businesses already offer mobile working to help staff strike a good work-life balance.

And in increasingly sophisticated, competitive markets, mobile working should be viewed as a solution rather than a problem.

Oliver Chivers, head of business marketing, T-Mobile UK