News Article - 23 May 2012
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A "considerable amount" of the UK population would welcome flexible working, one sector commentator has claimed - which may be good news for businesses looking to boost the productivity of their workforce.

Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, said that technology had moved on over the last five years and that as a result the way people worked needed to change as well.

"What's happened is more and more of the working population and indeed their employers realise that the culture of presenteeism - going to a place of work Monday to Friday, nine to five, for many is less relevant," he explained.

Mr Flaxton added that where a person worked was "immaterial" as the technology was now available to allow them to operate "pretty much 24/7".

Introducing legislation to encourage this would be welcomed in particular by parents with children under the age of 16, Mr Flaxton concluded.

As of yesterday (April 6th), the right to request flexible working has been extended to employees with parental responsibility for children aged 16 and under.

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