The recent job cuts at the BMW Mini plant in Cowley have raised a number of questions about agency worker rights. The government is now preparing to launch its consultation on implementing the Agency Workers Directive (AWD) in the UK, and HR professionals can still influence the outcome of this important piece of legislation.   More...
25 February 2009 08:00

Plans to extend the right to request flexible working look set to go ahead. Peter Rabbitts, knowledge adviser at  Acas , outlines the implications for employers and HR. The work-life balance lobby was shaken in October, when it was mooted that p  More...
12 February 2009 15:46

Employees at international mining giant Rio Tinto have been told to clear their desks, not because they are being sacked, but in a flexible working drive. About 550 staff at the firm's London head office have traded in their PCs for laptops  More...
12 February 2009 14:57

S taff at 'Big Four' accountancy firm KPMG have overwhelmingly backed a new flexible working scheme t o safeguard their jobs. More than 80% of the firm's 11,000 UK staff expressed interest in switching to a four-day working week , or a sabbati  More...
12 February 2009 08:02

Never mind the recession, the government is pushing ahead with expanding flexible working. From April, employee rights to request this will be extended. Laura Livingstone and James Ogilvie detail what employers should do to be ready.   More...
05 February 2009 11:01

The EAT has provided guidance on when an employee may take time off to care for a dependant under section 57A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA). Using the relevant legal language from the ERA in speech marks, this case focused on a situation where  More...
01 February 2009 00:00

Flexible parental rights should be extended to parents of children who are aged 18 and under, said a Tory peer who has introduced a private bill on equality issues into Parliament. Currently only parents and carers who have children aged six or und  More...
26 January 2009 15:45

Nissan aims to minimise job losses by implementing flexible working schemes to cut staff hours as the recession grips car manufacturers. Earlier this month it announced 1,200 jobs would have to go as a result of falling sales worldwide , and the f  More...
19 January 2009 05:53

Flexible working encompasses a whole variety of arrangements, not just part-time working. These include: job sharing, home working, term-time-only working, and flexi-time schemes. In the current economic climate, can businesses use flexible working   More...
11 January 2009 00:00

Embracing flexible working could help employers avoid the kind of disruption caused by last week's freezing weather and winter viruses, according to an expert. More than two million workers reportedly stayed at home on Monday 5 January to get over  More...
09 January 2009 08:46

A new service which enables organisations to sell the time of their staff has been welcomed by the TUC. StaffShare  allows organisations to register individuals, who could be under-utilised or at risk of redundancy, on a website offering their  More...
05 January 2009 11:53

CIPD chief executive Jackie Orme has praised the government for "holding its nerve" with its decision to extend flexible working rights as planned. It had been feared that the extension of the right to request flexible working – to parents w  More...
03 December 2008 14:22

Measures to increase workplace equality, extend flexible working rights, reform the welfare-to-work process and boost skills featured in the Queen's Speech this morning. The Queen outlined the government's legislative plans for 2009 in a short   More...
03 December 2008 12:44

The government has been urged to stop dithering and make a quick decision on the new flexible working laws as employers look for grains of certainty about 2009. The consultation on the government's response to the review of flexible working by Sain  More...
17 November 2008 00:01

A new website, flexible-working , will be launched in Cornwall this morning which will help small businesses boost their productivity and profits through flexible working.   The site, which is the first portal of its kind to be aimed at both  More...
12 November 2008 17:23

Luxury yacht builder Fairline Boats has drastically cut the hours of hundreds of workers due to the economic crisis. The Northamptonshire firm has announced that four of the its five production lines will work just two days a week from this week unt  More...
11 November 2008 14:00

Flexible working is making a comeback – driven by the impending recession and government enthusiasm for the concept. Flexible working is a growing phenomenon and the government's plans to increase the right to request flexible hours next April are se  More...
10 November 2008 11:19

Lord Mandelson's political instincts are legendary, and his determination to make a major impact immediately as the new business secretary is clear for all to see. But his proposal that the extension of the right to request flexible working to parent  More...
31 October 2008 16:38

As the UK enters recession, thousands of stay-at-home mums are using the internet to find occasional work to supplement the household income. Highly-skilled and experienced mothers are using PeoplePerHour.com to source work from the increasing num  More...
29 October 2008 11:13

The government has been warned that postponing the extension of flexible working rights would be "misguided" and "a really big mistake". Business secretary Peter Mandelson last week told MPs he was listening to employer bodies who want the extension  More...
27 October 2008 07:35