Bosses 'should realise importance of flexible working'

Bosses with "half a brain cell" should realise the importance of offering people the chance to work flexibly, according to a Government minister.

A committee of MPs looking into the gender pay gap were told that the Government was encouraging companies to offer flexible working arrangements, partly to help women who juggle home and work.

Skills Minister Nick Boles said that when he was an employer, at the think tank Policy Exchange, he was able to recruit better women than men because they valued being able to work flexibly, even though they might have been able to have got a better job elsewhere.

Women put an economic and social value on being able to work flexibly, he told the Women and Equalities Committee.

"If you have half a brain cell as an employer, you realise that by offering flexibility, you get the best employee."

Mr Boles said the right to request flexible working after six months in a job, and sharing parental leave, were important steps in changing the culture in workplaces.

He told MPs he hoped more couples would decide to share parental leave.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said more men were asking about shared parental leave in job interviews.

"I think employers are recognising they have to be more flexible," she said. "We have to get this working, in big companies, and smaller ones too."