A poll by YouGov on behalf of Alliance & Leicester has revealed that SME owners and managers are in favour of the Governments decision to halt extensions to flexible working hours.

The poll sampled over 800 hundred SME owners and found that 38% of small business owners believed they would find it difficult to offer the extended flexible working right if the legislation was passed.

Over three quarters commented that they did not have enough staff to provide flexible cover and 86% were of the opinion that the changes would be easier for larger organisations to implement and weren't realistic for small firms.


Business secretary Peter Mandelson recently announced that the government were halting the new flexible working proposal, but no definite statement has yet been given as to whether it will be permanently dropped or is just being postponed.