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Equality, diversity and inclusionHR practiceFamily-friendly workingWork-life balance

Inflexible bosses block revolution in the workplace

by Personnel Today 22 Nov 2005
by Personnel Today 22 Nov 2005

Half a million employees have had their requests for a shorter working week turned down by their managers since flexible working legislation was introduced in 2003.

A TUC study of 100,000 workers shows that 75% had no element of flexibility in their contracts. It also shows that almost 10% of people wanted to work fewer hours, even if it meant earning less.

TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, said: “The right to request to work flexibly has, unfortunately, had little impact on the UK’s long-hours culture.

“Although a few forward-thinking employers can see the benefit of a more intelligent organisation of workload and working hours, many bosses are not imaginative enough to meet flexible requests from employees with anything other than a firm ‘no’,” he said.

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Barber said extending the right to request flexible hours to all workers might help employers embrace a new working culture.

“Sadly, the day when all employees can enjoy a decent work-life balance is still some way off,” he said.


Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

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Personnel Today
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