IT ill-prepared for flexible working

IT directors are in the dark about new legislation on flexible working, according to recent research.

New employment legislation, which gives parents of young children the right to ask their employers for more flexibility over their working arrangements, is due to come into force on 6 April. Details of the changes can be found here.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) believes that 3.8 million parents will be affected by the new law, and expects 500,000 to apply in the first year.

But many IT departments are ill-equipped to respond to employee requests to work more flexibly.

The research, commissioned by voice and data networking company Sterry Communications among 300 IT and telecoms directors in the UK, found that three-quarters had not been briefed on the new legislation.

Three-quarters of respondents indicated that flexible working would increase the workload and pressure on their department, and 90 per cent have no additional budget to facilitate flexible working.

Some 54 per cent claimed that they would not be able to provide the necessary IT support.

John Fox, business development director at Sterry, said: "The new legislation will amount to additional pressure and worry for IT departments as they will have to stretch their existing IT budgets even further."

The DTI's work/life balance challenge fund was established in March 2000 to provide £10.5m worth of free consultancy over three years to companies looking to implement work/life balance policies.

John Eary, head of the NCC skills source consultancy, which works on behalf of the DTI, said: "Companies need to have a strategy for remote and home working because it does open up issues of technology, security and how you manage and support users in this way.

"There needs to be a rethink by IT departments as we move toward a 24/7 environment.

"One of the ways of doing this is to provide some of that support from the home of IT staff. The new legislation will add to existing momentum. It's a direction that can't be reversed."

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the number of teleworkers in the UK now exceeds two million.

See also:

BT revamps pitch to mobile workers

Telco aims to cut flexible working barriers with new all-in-one offering  19 Sep 2003

Firms weigh telework costs

The perceived high cost of implementing certain teleworking technologies could deter some firms from approving requests for flexible working arrangements  17 Mar 2003

Trust us, we're flexible!

New research has found that managers are less than trusting of their employees working on the move.  25 Feb 2003

Flexible hours worth more than cash

IT staff see work/life balance as more important than salary, gym membership or company car  06 Jan 2003

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