The Flexible & Family Friendly Working All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) will focus on championing flexible working policies that support families across the country, as well as remove the barriers that people with caring responsibilities face in the workplace.
The group is jointly chaired by the shadow economic secretary to the Treasury, Tulip Siddiq and Dame Maria Miller, Conservative MP for Basingstoke. Charity Working Families is also involved, acting as the secretariat for the group, while Save the Children is one of a number of sponsors.
It has been set-up ahead of new legislative changes coming into effect in April which will give employees the right to request flexible working from day one of their new job.
The aim of the APPG is to create conversations and promote best practice to make flexible working preferable for businesses, ensuring more families and employers can reap the benefits of flexibility in the workplace.
According to Working Families, despite the new legislative changes, many parents and carers are still likely to miss out on the benefits of flexible working if they are on zero-hour contracts or have their requests denied. It says that people on lower incomes are twice as likely to have informal requests for flexible working refused.
'This initiative is a crucial step towards promoting the benefits of flexible working'.
Tulip Siddiq MP, said, ‘I have long championed flexible working, including bringing in a Bill to improve employment rights, as well as supporting Yasmin Qureshi’s Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act which comes into effect this year. This initiative is a crucial step towards promoting the benefits of flexible working and making positive steps towards removing barriers that parents and carers face in the workplace.
‘I look forward to working collaboratively with my fellow officers and supporters of the APPG, including our secretariat Working Families, to drive positive change and champion flexible working practices that will benefit the workforce in my constituency, as well as across the UK.’
The group’s first meeting in the House of Commons is expected to take place next month.