Working 9 to 5?

Jan 22 2008 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette

TEES VALLEY businesses are abandoning the usual routine for something altogether more flexible, as SARAH JUDD has been finding out...

COMPRESSED time, job sharing, home-based working, limited working and flexitime. Whatever you call it, more and more Tees Valley staff have got off the nine to five treadmill since chart-topper Dolly Parton, left, climbed on in 1980.

Now the country’s highest profile working dad, PM Gordon Brown, is backing parents with plans to extend their right to request more sympathetic hours, ordering a review of employment legislation this year.

Experts say that’s not only good for families, but businesses could benefit from better productivity, lower costs and more motivated staff.

We discover how allowing employees to escape the routine is already paying off for a range of Teesside companies, and investigate the potential for others to improve output, retain highly skilled employees and even reduce their carbon footprint.