A week in HR: Flexible working extension pulled

Posted by HR Zone in Strategies on Tue, 21/10/2008 - 10:33

HR weekThe big story this week is the government's plan to delay the extension to flexible working, which has angered several commentators. Elsewhere, Unite has won a landmark ruling on age discrimination. Annie Hayes reports.

Peter Mandelson, the Secretary of State for Business, has requested that plans to allow 4.5 million parents to work flexibly are shelved. Reported by The Independent, the plan to extend the right to flexitime from parents of children under six to all those with children up to 16 are to be delayed in an attempt to help out businesses struggling with regulatory burden in the downturn. Other proposals which may also be postponed include extending paid maternity leave from 39 to 52 weeks and creating an extra bank holiday.

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The news has angered several groups.

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Editor's Welcome

 

Hello! And welcome back as we enter 2012, with a busy year ahead of us all. With talk of double-dip recessions, a possible partial or even full break-up of the Eurozone and unemployment rates set to hit nearly 9%, topics such as organisational streamlining, staff resilience and talent management are likely to be on many an HR professional's lips over the next 12 months.
 
But to lighten the gloom here in the UK, we also have the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and its attendant public holidays to look forward to at the start of June. Followed by two weeks of Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August and the Paralympics from 29 August to 9 September, each generating their own excitement, but also issues to work through for hard-pressed HR departments trying to sort out the multifarious staffing issues in advance.
 
So with an interesting but challenging year to come, HRZone promises to be with you, supporting you all the way and providing our usual insightful blend of news, analysis, community blogs and expert comment to help you sort the wheat from the chaff. As ever, we love to hear from you too so feel free to either post your words of wisdom to our blog section yourself or, in the case of longer, more in-depth ‘expert voice’ articles, drop me a line with any ideas to cath.everett@siftmedia.co.uk.....
 
Cath Everett
HRZone Editor 
 
 
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