74% of SMBs are Meeting the Needs of Parents by Offering Flexible Work Options - But 58% Expect Government Plan to Extend Parental Leave to Negatively Impact their Business •Approximately half of SMBs are in favour of the government’s plan to extend flexible working to parents of older children •Flexible Working tops list of company benefits for working parents, as 54% of mums want to work away from the office and 87% of dads look to ditch the daily commute •UK dads say flexible working would make most significant positive difference to family life in the first year after a child’s birth A new study published today reveals that UK small to medium-sized businesses* (SMBs) are embracing flexible working practices, with 74% saying they have introduced flexible working options and approximately half (47%) stating they believe the government’s plan to extend flexible working to parents of older children is a good idea. However, the independent research, commissioned by Citrix Online, which surveyed middle managers and above from 298 SMBs, as well as 1,800 working parents, also highlights SMB concerns over government plans to extend parental leave, with 58% stating that extending maternity leave would have a negative commercial impact on their business, and 48% for paternity leave. SMBs highlighted employee satisfaction (66%), staff retention (58%), and providing a work-life balance for working parents (48%) as the key business benefits to introducing flexible working. On an encouraging note, only 13% thought that quality of work would suffer and less than a third stated additional costs were a primary concern. The benefits of flexible working and Web commuting – the ability to work from anywhere and travel less, by using Internet-based tools and services – were also very clear to parents, with ‘working away from the office’ being the top benefit that mums would like to receive from a job (54%), ranking above a pension (44%), and an annual bonus or health insurance (both 36%).