Change to flexible working legislation

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Change to flexible working legislation will increase pressure to tighten up on employee identity management systems.

James Doggart, Managing Director of Salford Software, believes that the changes to flexible working legislation that have just come into effect will put pressure on employers to tighten up identity management systems as more employees work remotely.

The changes will extend the right to ask for flexible working conditions to parents with children under the age of 16 and will impact 4.5 million workers in the UK putting further strain on technical support to provide secure flexible working.

"As more workers become flexible and are able to work remotely, there is an even greater need to know who is accessing the organisation's network and who should have access to it, or shouldn't," said James Doggart, MD, Salford Software.

"Creating such a system helps to remove barriers to home working and enhances the experience for the worker, whilst also ensuring that only legitimate access is granted to those who should have it."

Identity Management can go one step further than secure access by provisioning the services based upon the identity and responsibilities or levels of seniority of the user.

"Workers have access to different systems in an organisation based upon their role or their level of seniority - not everyone can view staff records or pay roll information for example," said James Doggart.

"Access can be granted to different systems based upon the identity of the person accessing it - but all via a single sign on which identifies the worker. This will be key to the continued provision of security if flexible workers are going to work remotely - they will require the same levels of access as if they were sat at their desk in the office.

"Employers will have one less worry if their workers are able to work from home with the same levels of accessibility to internal systems as if they were office based."