Britain’s Hidden Brain Drain: Inflexible Attitudes to Flexi-Time

Britain’s Hidden Brain Drain: Inflexible Attitudes to Flexi-Time

The Equal Opportunity Commission’s (EOC) investigation into flexible and part-time work, entitled Britain’s Hidden Brain Drain, has looked at the damage caused by old-fashioned views about flexible working and has recommended that the Government should extend family-friendly working laws to allow more workers to benefit. The year-long investigation reveals that current flexible and part-time working arrangements are failing to meet the needs of working women and men, leading to 5.6 million part-time workers working in jobs that do not use their potential. British men are working among the longest hours in the EU and women part-time workers are earning 40 per cent less per hour than men working full time. The EOC is also calling for line managers to receive more training to help them deal with flexible working and more support for small businesses.
The response from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) was muted. Susan Anderson from the CBI said that employers would support the extension of flexible working rights “over time” but felt that “we should proceed with caution as it simply is not possible to say yes to everyone because the work still needs to be done.”

For more information on the survey visit  www.eoc.org.uk/flexwork