When I was a young man, working life meant fixed hours and sticking to a rigid set of rules governing the time you arrived and left work and when, and for what reason, you could be absent. As my career progressed I found myself working for organisations that not only expected their staff to stick to these types of rigid rules but also regarded them as a minimum requirement, successful employees were often the ones who worked very long extra hours at the expense of their family life. 

Now times have changed and the most successful companies are usually the ones that are more flexible about the way they treat their staff. They still expect hard work and for people to put in the hours for the time they are paid, but they allow staff to come and go, within reason, at times that are convenient. Some of them are happy for people to work from home and if caring responsibilities or family emergencies require it they will be more flexible still. Surprise surprise, this does not make them less competitive - it makes them more competitive because these are the companies that attract the most loyal staff and are best able to keep them. 

Of course, not all employers are so far sighted and some have genuine difficulty ensuring their operation still runs efficiently when they offer flexible working. That is why the Government asked Imelda Walsh, the Human Resources Director of Sainsbury’s, to carry out an independent review of flexible working and to make recommendations about how best to change the law to ensure that it extends the right to flexible working whilst protecting the interests of employers. 

Happily, her recommendation that the right to request flexible working should be extended to working parents who have children up to the age of 16 has been accepted by the Government. The new rules should be in force by April 2009.

It is a change that will help many families balance their work and family life much more easily and will make life much easier for working parents.  Imelda Walsh concluded that selecting 16 as the most appropriate age means that parents will be able to support their children until the end of their secondary education and GCSEs.  She rejected the option of recommending an increase to 18, arguing that by that age a child is a young adult who could be expected to show a good measure of personal responsibility and will be less in need of parental supervision at fixed times in the day.  

Under the new arrangements, employers will still have the control they need to do what is best for their business and the Government has now launched a further round of consultation with them to make sure their interests are protected. What those that offer flexibility will find, however, is that it will help them get the best out of their employees. 

I know many Thanet families struggle to balance the needs of their family with their working lives and these changes will help. Of course, they also come on top of our introduction of Surestart, free childcare for three and four year olds, and the childcare element of Working Tax Credit that pays up to £140 a week for one child and £240 a week for two or more; all of which are measures introduced by this Government to help hardworking families and which were opposed by, or are now under attack from, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. 

Work is important but looking after your family is important too. The Government recognizes that, even if other people do not.