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Flexible working 'benefits employers and staff'
HR News |
20/02/2012
Flexible working practices offer a great number of advantages to UK organisations, it has been suggested.
Mike Emmott, employee relations adviser at The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said part-time working, flexitime, term-time working, job-sharing and working at home can all prove beneficial for employers and staff.
"Research shows that employees on flexible contracts are more engaged than those who work standard hours," he noted.
"They are more committed to the organisation and feel more fairly treated. They are also less likely to take time off."
When employees work at home, for instance, they are able to avoid the lengthy commute into work each day, enabling them to save time and money.
Rather than finding themselves stuck in traffic for an hour each morning and afternoon, they can relax in their own home or engage in leisure pursuits.
And for workers who have children, flexible working may enable them to spend more time at home, or at least take them to school and collect them in the evening.
As such, Mr Emmott suggested more people should be legally entitled to work flexibly in the UK.
"CIPD has welcomed the government's promise to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees by 2015," he stated.
"Firms of all sizes get business value by offering flexible working to their employees, increasing the talent pool from which to recruit and enabling them to retain the good employees."
He suggested that, where the right to work from home or other remote locations is concerned, this may be the difference between keeping hold of talented employees and seeing them look for a new job with a rival employer.
Last month, CIPD claimed human resources has "a pivotal role to play" in embedding a responsible and sustainable mindset within UK organisations.
This is vitally important in modern business, with employers required by law to consider the interests of a variety of stakeholders, the organisation claimed.
Posted by Jon Aspinell
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