The President of the CBI, Britain’s biggest employers lobbying group, has told a conference that: “the worst thing possible would [be to] have any legislation that entitles people to the right to work from home… They should have the right to request it. But every employer should make that decision about the mix of working from home [and the office].”
Lord Bilimoria, who is also Chairman of the Cobra Beer Partnership, was responding to news that Downing Street has confirmed the Government is considering changes to legislation about working from home.
DR UK’s Fazilet Hadi said: “The pandemic has had few silver linings, but one of them has been flexible working. Disabled people, who often struggle with the pressures commuting puts upon energy, pain and coping levels, coupled with a lack of accessibility on transport and in workplaces, have often benefited from the shift to home working. It has been safer, but also allowed us to show employers just how productive we can be with the right adaptations.
“The shift to homeworking has also benefited families, especially women, who often bear the brunt of childcare responsibilities. Anna Whitehouse’s work on the Flex Appeal project has made it clear that the ‘right to request’ flexible working is not a patch on workers in certain jobs being able to work flexibly as a right.
“The nine to five in a set location is a hangover from the 1920s car industry. The men in charge of industry insisting on the ‘right to request’ are out of touch and need to wake up and realise that many workers thrive with a combination of autonomy and flexibility, and as they thrive, so do the businesses they work for.”
A Downing Street spokesperson said a flexible working taskforce was examining how best to proceed. “What we’re consulting on is making flexible working a default option unless there are good reasons not to.”