Most workplaces 'flexible', but long-hours creeping back!

However, official figures have also shown that a steady ten-year decline in long-hours working in Britain has ended, with a slight rise last year in the number of people working more than 48 hours per week.

The latest 'Work-Life Balance Employer Survey' from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) found that 95% of workplaces now offered some form of flexible working for staff.

The study of almost 1,500 workplaces in Britain showed an increase in part-time working, reduced hours, job-sharing and flexi-hours. The amount of workplaces providing childcare facilities or other arrangements to help parents combine work with family commitments had more than doubled since 2003, from 8% to 18%.

BERR added that recent research had also shown that more men than ever were keen to work flexibly, accounting for 43% of employees who requested a change to working patterns in the past two years.

'Happier workers'

Minister for employment relations, Pat McFadden, said: "The way we work is changing and in many cases, it is changing to fit in with people's lives. More people want to balance work with family and lifestyle and more employers are increasingly recognising that flexibility helps retain good staff."

Mike Emmott, employee relations adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development commented: "Flexible working is on the rise, as growing numbers of employers look for new ways to compete to attract the best people and keep them engaged and motivated.

"Our research into employee engagement shows flexible workers are happier workers, and happier workers are more motivated to achieve results for their employers."

Long hours

However, the TUC claimed there were signs that long-hours working was increasing once again in the UK.

It said analysis of the latest 'Labour Force Survey' had shown that 3.2 million people were now working more than 48 hours a week - 13.1% of the workforce, up from 12.8% last year. It claimed the figures revealed that a "hard core" of bad employers were taking no notice of the law or calls to give staff a better work-life balance.

The biggest increase in the number of people working a 48-hour week was in the south east of England and London, with 16% of staff in the capital now working long hours.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The increase of flexible working is good news for both employers and staff. But this rise has been coupled with a renaissance of the 'long hours' culture.

"We are in danger of having a two-tier workforce, where good employers offer great flexible working, while stingy employers stick with rigid, long-hours. Extending rights to flexible working is the best way to prevent employers getting away with this."