NCT Watch

An independent review by Sainsbury’s human resources director Imelda Walsh recommended that the right to flexible working should apply as widely as possible. The right is currently restricted to parents whose children are under six or disabled but could be extended to parents of children up to the age of 16.

The government has said it will now consult on how the proposal can be implemented. The review said that any change should be implemented at once rather than staged and added that more needed to be done to raise awareness of the right to request flexible working, among employees and companies.

Around six million workers currently have the right to ask for flexible arrangements, although the government believes more than 14 million people work flexibly. More than nine out of 10 requests to work flexibly were approved last year.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Any extension of the right to request flexible working is great news for parents struggling to combine work with their often hectic family lives.”