A year on two thirds of Brits don’t see flexible working as a reality

It’s been almost a year since the UK government introduced the European Flexible Working Directive, in line with other European countries. This gives parents the right to request to work a flexible schedule if they have children under the age of six or a disabled child under 18. This has been billed as a vital step in enabling people to achieve a good work-life balance, as well as helping employers attract and keep the best talent, whilst boosting productivity. Are Brits benefiting from flexible working? And given the option, do they make the most of it?

The Monster Meter asked, Is your company offering a flexible working schedule to employees with children?

As part of the European survey, nearly 500 visitors to Monster.co.uk responded:
66% (324) No, the company I work for does not offer this
12% (60) Yes, it’s widely used by the employees
15% (74) Yes, a few employees use it
7% (34) Yes, but most employees don’t use it

In the UK, nearly two thirds of respondents said that they do not have flexible working schedules in place for employees with children. This is surprising, given that the legislation has already been in place for a year. 15% of Brits said that a few workers in their organisations were making use of the scheme and 12% said that the scheme was widely used. However - nearly 7% of respondents said that, even if given the option, the majority of employees would not take up the option to work a flexible schedule.

The results of the European survey, in which 5,337 Europeans voters took part, revealed:
61% (3,248) No, the company I work for does not offer this
20% (1,054) Yes, it’s widely used by the employees
12% (657) Yes, a few employees use it
7% (378) Yes, but most employees don’t use it

Top of the pile are the Fins, with the highest percentage of employers implementing flexible working schedules: 72% of respondents say that employees with children have the option to work a flexible schedule. However, only 34% of Fins said that the option is widely used, whilst Sweden has the highest amount of respondents - 38% - claiming to widely use flexi-working. It is clear that other Europeans are not as lucky as their Nordic counterparts - only 16% of the Spanish, 21% of the French and 23% of the Luxembourger respondents claim that they have flexible working schedules in place, let alone use them.

As well as flexible working legislation, advances in technology are enabling people to work remotely and maintain communication with their colleagues. According to the EU Emergence Project, by 2010 nearly 27 million Europeans will become new remote workers, or E-workers. Out of those, the UK will have the largest number. It has been predicted that by 2005, there will be over 8 million home-workers in the UK alone.

Our survey results clearly show that some countries are more advanced than others in the adoption of flexi-working. Workers with children in countries like the UK should be aware that it’s up to them to request a flexible working schedule, and employers are legally-bound to consider it, comments Hernan Daguerre, director of communications, Monster Europe. However, with or without legislation, it is important that organisations realise the benefits that can be gained through flexi-working, which include a better work-life balance, and even increased productivity.



The results of the current Monster Meter are based on votes cast by Monster.com visitors from 1st March to 15th March 2004. Only one vote per user is counted toward the final tabulation. The Monster Meter, a product of Monster, the leading global online careers site and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc., is a series of online polls that gauge users’ opinions on a variety of topics relating to careers, the economy and the workplace. Anyone interested in voting in Monster’s current online poll may do so by logging onto