The government has launched a consultation on plans to introduce a new system of flexible parental leave from 2015 as part of a strategy to create a “modern workplace for the modern economy”.

Economies in the West still seem to be licking their wounds from the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Despite positive signals, overall growth is tentative to say the least, as business remains wary of the fragile state of the Eurozone and the inflation-making price of oil due to the situation in the Middle East.