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The impact of over-working and what businesses are doing to support #FlexibleWorking

Linda Aiello, SVP of International Employee Success at Salesforce.

MP Helen Whately has pushed forward the flexible working bill to the next stages in the government’s legislative process.

The bill will mean all UK businesses will have to allow full-time workers flexible or remote working as part of their contracts, to help ease pressures around childcare and travel commitments.

Linda Aiello, SVP of International Employee Success at Salesforce, has provided data from Salesforce’s own studies on the impact of over-working and what businesses are doing to support flexible working:

The government confirmed on Tuesday that the flexible working bill will move to the next stages in the legislative process. This is a hugely positive step for British workers who for a long time have required greater working flexibility to accommodate the realities of modern life.

While many workers’ allotted hours are 9 to 5, as an employer we know that childcare, personal circumstances or travel pressures can create far more stress in everyday life, leading to diminished personal health and working output.

Our research suggests that 45% of UK small business owners attribute a lack of time to having a negative impact on their or their employees’ personal health; so much so, that 31% say that they or their staff have taken leave for mental health reasons.

But having the policy alone isn’t enough – businesses need the right technology in place to make flexible working possible. Our research indicates that 40% of UK workers say their employers do offer flexible working, but that only 20% of staff are provided the technology to support it. 

Proposals set out in the flexible working bill should greatly boost employee requests to work from home, and businesses must be properly prepared to facilitate agile working in its various guises, or else face an understandable backlash from staff who will increasingly expect to exercise their power to work in ways that fit around their personal lives.

Linda Aiello, SVP of International Employee Success at Salesforce


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