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Dept of Trade and Industry

Answer

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many requests for flexible working from (a) women and (b) men were for (i) shorter working hours and (ii) compressed working hours. [178116] Mr. Sutcliffe: The DTI published results of the first flexible working employee survey in April 2004. The survey reported the types of flexible working requested by male and female employees since the introduction of the new employment rights in April 2003. Table A4--Types of flexible working requested (percentage) _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Male employees Female employees All employees Part-time 31 41 38 Flexitime 30 23 25 Reduced hours for a limited 1-- 12 13 period Work from home on a regular basis 17 1-- 10 Compressed working week 1-- 1-- 8 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 Sample size too small for a reliable estimate. Percentage of those employees surveyed who had requested flexible working. Notes: 1. Respondents could give multiple responses. 2. Respondents also stated other types of flexible working, but sample sizes were too small to report above. 3. All employees who requested flexible working since April 2003. Total of 456 employee responses. Source: ONS Omnibus Survey, September to November 2003 and February 2004. In total an estimated 56,000 men and 294,000 women have requested shorter working hours, although the sample size was not large enough to include the number of men requesting reduced hours for a limited period, so this has not been included. The sample sizes were too small to reliably estimate the number of women or men requesting compressed working hours.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

178116; 422 c818-9W

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Conditions of employment Applications Women Flexible working Remote working Parents Part-time employment Men Working hours Flexitime

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk