But 58% Expect Government Plan to Extend Parental Leave to Negatively Impact their Business

•Approximately half of SMBs are in favour of the government’s plan to extend flexible working to parents of older children
•Flexible Working tops list of company benefits for working parents, as 54% of mums want to work away from the office and 87% of dads look to ditch the daily commute
•UK dads say flexible working would make most significant positive difference to family life in the first year after a child’s birth

Amersham, UK. – 1st May, 2008:  A new study published today reveals that UK small to medium-sized businesses* (SMBs) are embracing flexible working practices, with 74% saying they have introduced flexible working options and approximately half (47%) stating they believe the government’s plan to extend flexible working to parents of older children is a good idea. However, the independent research, commissioned by Citrix Online, which surveyed middle managers and above from 298 SMBs, as well as 1,800 working parents, also highlights SMB concerns over government plans to extend parental leave, with 58% stating that extending maternity leave would have a negative commercial impact on their business, and 48% for paternity leave.

SMBs highlighted employee satisfaction (66%), staff retention (58%), and providing a work-life balance for working parents (48%) as the key business benefits to introducing flexible working.  On an encouraging note, only 13% thought that quality of work would suffer and less than a third stated additional costs were a primary concern.

The benefits of flexible working and Web commuting – the ability to work from anywhere and travel less, by using Internet-based tools and services – were also very clear to parents, with ‘working away from the office’ being the top benefit that mums would like to receive from a job (54%), ranking above a pension (44%), and an annual bonus or health insurance (both 36%).  For 87% of dads, avoiding traffic and saving time by not commuting to the office were the best things about working flexibly, while the majority of mums (69%) cited having more control over their day and spending more time with family.

In contrast, parents voiced worries over government plans to extend maternity leave from 39 to 52 weeks and give fathers the right to up to 26 weeks paternity leave with statutory pay, if the mother returns to work.  Almost half of dads (46%) and 44% of mums believe that taking extended leave would negatively impact their career, with the majority of dads citing that the ability to work flexibly would make the most positive difference to family life in the first year of their child’s birth, rather than taking extended paternity leave.

Denise Tyler, founder of Mother@Work (www.motheratwork.co.uk), added: “Working parents worry about the affect that having children will have on their career aspirations, so it is promising to see that businesses are recognising the benefits of flexible working and introducing options that will really help employees.”

“It is very encouraging to note a consensus between UK businesses and parents around flexible working,” commented Bernardo de Albergaria, Vice President and General Manager, Global Marketing and eCommerce, Citrix Online. “UK SMBs are actively exploring ways to enhance employee satisfaction and retention by enabling Web commuting. This way, companies can minimise disruption to their business while allowing parents the flexibility to achieve a rewarding home life as well as momentum in their career.”