Good for business, good for employees

Introducing the second annual IRS HR Prospects survey, employment relations minister Alan Johnson argues that new employment rights will ease recruitment problems and cut costs.

I welcome this study's focus on flexible working, and am greatly encouraged by its results. It shows that British bosses are firmly behind policies to help parents work flexibly and balance their careers. The overwhelming majority of employers clearly recognise the benefits, both to their workforce and to themselves, from such practices.

The government's long-term goal is to ensure a higher proportion of people in work than ever before by 2010, as we seek employment opportunity for all - the modern definition of full employment. High performance workplaces and a dynamic, flexible labour market are central to achieving that goal.

That flexibility needs to benefit employers and employees alike. Flexibility provides employers with more effective ways to recruit, deploy and retain staff. But employees, too, need flexibility, particularly working parents, as they juggle work and family responsibilities.

The way we work today has to reflect current business practice as well as modern lifestyles, so the options are extremely varied. This is not about imposing a "one-size-fits-all" solution - that simply wouldn't work. It isn't the government's job to tell parents how to lead their lives.

Instead, it is about giving employers more choice on working patterns suited to their individual business needs, and giving parents of young children more choice over flexible ways of working and returning to work after having children. That's why, from 6 April this year, parents of children under six and parents with disabled children under 18 have had the legal right to ask their employer to consider flexible ways of working. New mothers can now take six months' paid maternity leave - with another six months unpaid if they want it. And new fathers get two weeks' paid paternity leave for the first time.

As this report shows, our new legislation is moving in step with business and employee opinion. Even before these new rights were introduced, almost three-quarters of British employers surveyed by IRS said they thought the benefits would outweigh the disadvantages. Moreover, around six in 10 employers reported they already met the new standards. This finding has been confirmed by a major new DTI work-life balance study. It found that more than nine out of 10 (94%) employers agreed that people will work best when they can strike a healthy balance between work and the rest of their lives.

Despite concerns voiced by some employers in the IRS survey that the new rights might impose an "unwelcome burden", the DTI study suggests otherwise. Nine out of 10 (91%) employers, who had already implemented work-life balance practices, said there were no or minimal costs involved.

The new laws will deliver a better deal for working parents and help improve UK productivity. That's why we introduced them, and it is why we will ensure that the awareness and take up of flexible working spreads across the UK workforce.

Based on extensive research, we estimate that 418,000 new requests for flexible working will be accepted each year. This will lead to an increase of 55,000 in the labour supply of mothers returning to work and an expected reduction in recruitment costs of £102 million per year. Clear evidence that the new rights are good for business and employees alike.

Alan Johnson MP, Minister of State for Employment Relations, Industry and the Regions.