By rejecting flexible working requests, employers are shooting themselves in the foot

Studies show flexible working is beneficial to employers as well as their staff, yet the majority of workers still can’t access it. This only makes their case stronger, writes James Moore

Childcare is a bigger challenge than it ought to be – and many reasonable requests are turned down (Getty/iStock)

The start of the new school term this week brings with it a fresh set of challenges for working parents. They have the right to request flexible working with a view to meeting their children. The problem is, employers have the right to turn them down.

Far too many of them do that. Flexi-time is unavailable to over half (58 per cent) of the UK workforce, according to research released today by pollster GQR for the Trades Union Congress. The number rose to nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of those in working-class occupations.

Three in every 10 people exercising their right to request it said they were turned down, making term-time childcare challenges far more difficult than they ought to be.