The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has called on the British government and businesses around the country to respond to the needs of their staff and create new ways of working.

According to the commission, there are many innovative ways in which employers can improve the lives of their staff, such as enabling home-based working, and Britain should focus on establishing a more flexible workforce.

Flexible working is on the increase in the UK, however, an EOC report suggests that a number of European countries, including Germany, Denmark and Sweden, are well ahead in this regard.

"Our report lays down the social and economic imperative for a new culture of flexibility at work," chair of the EOC, Jenny Watson remarked.

"The time has now come for this innovation to spread to across the workforce to reach the UK’s 29 million workers," she added.

Earlier this week, the children’s minister Beverley Hughes suggested that British fathers ought to be given the professional flexibility they need to spend more time with their children.