Government and employers work together to kick-start flexible working

A new campaign has been launched by the Flexible Working Task Force to boost flexible working.

Members of the Flexible Working Task Force are collectively using their ability to reach and influence hundreds of thousands of employers to encourage them to advertise jobs as flexible by using the strapline ‘Happy to Talk Flexible Working’in their job advertisements, regardless of level or pay grade.

As part of its efforts to increase uptake, the task force is highlighting the business benefits of flexible working, which include:

• Addressing skill and labour shortages by making work more accessible to older people and those with caring responsibilities, for example:
• Improving productivity by increasing employee motivation.
• Boosting job satisfaction, engagement and well-being, while also helping to reduce sickness absence.
• Helping organisations to retain staff, particularly those with caring responsibilities.
• Creating more diverse workforces which reduces the gender pay gap by giving more opportunities for women to progress into senior roles.

Peter Cheese, CIPD chief executive and co-chair of the Flexible Working Task Force, commented, “Providing more flexible opportunities for how, when and where people work should be part of every organisation’s strategy to attract and retain the talent and skills they need.

“Employers need to consider, and address, the barriers holding them back from adopting flexible working practices more widely – be it entrenched organisational cultures or making sure line managers are trained to support and manage flexible workers.

“By encouraging many more jobs to be advertised as flexible as the default option, the task force is challenging outdated attitudes to flexible working that still prevail in some organisations and laying down a marker for other employers to follow.”

Kelly Tolhurst, business minister, added, “Working flexibly helps people to balance their work and home lives and is vital in creating an inclusive economy and diverse workforce. It also gives employers access to a wider pool of talent and enables better matching of applicants and jobs.

“The Government is committed to enhancing the quality of work which is why we have recently set out major workplace reforms to give millions of workers, including flexible workers, new rights and protections – the biggest upgrade in workers’ rights in a generation. To build on this upgrade, we will also be considering a duty for employers to consider whether a job can be done flexibly, and to make that clear when advertising a vacancy.

“We want to ensure the UK continues to lead the world in addressing the challenges of the changing world of work and the Flexible Working Task Force plays a valuable role in this endeavour, with a great forum through which we can make flexible working a reality for all employees.”

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