IT’S National Work-Life Week – and employment specialists The HR Dept Basingstoke & Hart is encouraging employers to lend their support.

The week has been organised by work-balance charity, Working Families, whose Time, Health and the Family Survey 2012, found that 41 per cent of working parents do not leave work on time and findings by the TUC also revealed that just one in 172 working fathers take paternity leave.

Karen Sanders, managing director of The HR Dept Basingstoke & Hart, said: “The problem often lies with the employees themselves being fearful of making a flexible working request.

“Employees are still feeling vulnerable in their jobs and remain cautious of either rocking the boat or fear a backlash from colleagues.

“From an HR perspective, an employee with at least 26 weeks continuous employment has the right to make a request for flexible working as well as the right to have it seriously considered by the employer.

“Whilst employers are obliged to seriously consider the request, they are not obliged to accept the request but must give genuine business reasons why it has been rejected.”

Looking at the needs of employers, Karen said many small businesses may claim it is difficult for them to create a flexible working environment.

However, depending on the nature of the business and the number of staff, employers may be able to allow employees to work from home and to work staggered hours where an employee has different start, finish and break times from other workers.

An alternative could be introducing flexitime where an employee can choose when they start and end work every day but must be present within core hours, of for example between 10am and 4pm every day.