According to a new survey carried out by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) nearly 65 per cent of the UK workforce is now aware of their right to request flexible working, compared with 42 per cent two years ago.

Legislation introduced in April 2003 means that employers have a duty to consider requests for flexible working against the overall needs of the business.

The DTI’s Flexible Working Employee Survey also showed that, over the past two years, employers had accepted 81 per cent of all requests for flexible working, up from 77 per cent in 2003. Details: www.dti.gov.uk