Flexible working to be extended

The right to request flexible working is to be extended to about 4.5 million parents of children aged up to 16, reported The BBC.

Under the current rules the opportunity is limited to parents whose children are under six or disabled.

Following the recommendations of an independent review, Business Secretary John Hutton said the move would give a "big boost" to busy parents.

Leaders of small businesses have criticised the step and said it could be damaging to firms.

Mr Hutton said the move could help employers get the best out of the mothers and fathers in their workforce.

He said: "It is important that employers retain control over deciding whether it suits their business to allow people to work flexibly, but extending the right to request to parents of older children will allow families to take priority when decisions are made."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he thought the extension would be welcomed by "a lot of employers".

This was because the scheme "has actually been working for millions of people over the last few years", he told BBC News.

More than 90% of requests for flexible working were approved by employers last year.

The review was carried out by Imelda Walsh, human resources director of Sainsbury's.

It said awareness needed to be raised among both employees and employers of the right to request flexible working.

Ms Walsh said: "I am convinced that the challenges which parents with older children face are considerable, and that the arguments for raising the age to 16 are compelling.

"This change would offer an important opportunity for parents to have extra flexibility at key times in their children's lives."