More businesses adopted flexible working practices last year despite some large companies calling employees back into the office, an international survey suggests. The annual poll of 79,000 firms by Peninsula Group, an employment law specialist, found the proportion of small and medium-sized companies deploying flexible working as standard almost doubled to 28 per cent in 2024. In the UK, the trend in contract terms was away from full-time office-based work, with the number of businesses saying they required staff to work in the office all week falling from 51.2 per cent to 44.4 per cent. • Women who often work from home ‘risk losing out on promotion’Across the five countries covered — Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the UK — 79 per cent

Source: The Times January 07, 2025 15:24 UTC