More than a third of finance directors believe new flexible working
legislation in the Employment Act will damage business by increasing
administration and costs.
A survey of more than 300 finance directors shows that bosses are concerned
the new right for parents of young children to request flexible working
arrangements will lead to disruption in the workforce.
The research, by recruitment firm Reed Accountancy, suggests finance
directors feel costs will rise as employers will have to hire temps and
increase overtime to cover staff working flexibly.
In a separate survey legal consultancy Peninsula reported a 41 per cent
increase in the number of calls to its advice line since the introduction of
the new rights on 6 April.
The firm claims employers are unhappy at the introduction of more red tape
and said many of the calls were from companies not aware of the changes until
the last minute.
Peninsula normally receives about 850 calls per day, but in the two days
following the Employment Act’s introduction, it had 2,380 individual inquiries.
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