In an interview with The Daily Mail today, business secretary Vince Cable said bosses in businesses with fewer than 250 staff could refuse employee requests to work flexibly or part time, in a bid to bolster the growth of the economy and reduce regulation of entrepreneurs.
The minister's suggested measures include scrapping plans to extend to parents with children under the age of 18 the right to request flexible working and not implementing a right for time off to train, at firms with 300 employees or fewer.
Discussing the announcement with HR magazine, James Wilders, a partner in the employment practice at law firm Dickinson Dees, said: "Employers in small businesses will still have to consider flexible working requests from employees who need to care for children, disabled people or those who are over 65, because otherwise they are open to discrimination claims - so this is not a blanket ban.
"But this does mean small employers that do not like flexible working could lose staff, who would prefer to move to bigger organisations. A presumption still exists that flexible working can have a negative impact on business, but without it employees could become less loyal or motivated."
"The Government is carrying out a balancing act [with reducing regulation], but could find it damaging if morale levels drop in organisations where the employer says 'no' to flexible working," said Wilders.
