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Are you one of the 45% of Small Business Owners unaware of the new legislation on Flexible Working?

Almost half (45%) of small companies are unaware of changes to flexible working legislation that comes into force tomorrow 30th June 2014.

A further 17% felt they didn’t fully understand the changes and what it would be mean to them as a business.

They key points from the new legislation are:

  • The government is extending the right to request flexible working to all employees removing the current statutory procedure for considering requests.
  • Instead employers will have a duty to consider all requests in a reasonable manner, however employers will continue to have flexibility to refuse requests on business grounds.
  • Employees need to have been with their employer for 26 weeks before applying for flexibility in working hours.
  • Only one application can be made in a 12 month period.
  • Employees have the right to appeal against the outcome.

A recent survey of 2000 small business owners in the UK also showed that 18% of SME’s already have some members of staff working with a degree of flexibility, whether that be at home, working part time, or job sharing.

So how does your business feel about flexible working?

The phrase “I’m working from home tomorrow” is what every employee wants to say but not what every employer wants to hear.

Some business owners are cynical and they think flexible working is staying at home in your pyjamas. But remember this:

  • 70% of Managers have seen a boost in productivity since adapting a flexible working model.
  • Over 60% of Managers have seen an increase in revenue.
  • Over 75% of Managers feel flexible working is key to employee retention.
  • Reduction of 1.16 tonnes of carbon dioxide, annually. This is how much carbon dioxide you’d alleviate our battered planet if you worked from home 2 days a week (assuming a 17 mile commute by car).
  • Over 72% of Managers believe there is link between employee engagement and flexible working. Managers see employees less stressed and more motivated after a switch to flexible working practices.
  • 4 in 10 workers feel they are more creative when they work flexibly.
  • Over 56% of Managers found a drop in absenteeism after flexible working practices where adopted.

Anthony Temperton of Knowledge About Telecoms stated “With the right technology and the right attitude flexible working can give your employees and business a quantifiable boost. For employers it is a big change in mind-set, there is the fear if you can’t see the employee then how do I know they are working. Managers need to be trained to manage their staff on their output not on the time they get into the office.”

Implementing flexible or remote working need not be difficult but it is important to plan, implement and monitor across the whole business. For more information on how Knowledge About Telecoms can help then contact our team on 0844 474 0004 or via enquiries@79.170.44.128

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