Employers are adopting a more flexible approach when it comes to establishing working hours for IT contractors and other staff.

Fatherhood think-tank the Fatherhood Institute noted that this shift in attitude could be the result of a greater recognition of demands on the modern employee.

The institute's head of research, Adrienne Burgess explained: "Employers are becoming aware of the fact that people have other lives, and that to keep the brightest and the best you need to be flexible.

"That's very much the case with people who have children, because they are now beginning to recognise that men have substantial caring responsibilities."

Her comments follow research by uSwitch.com, which indicated that 39 per cent of small businesses believe they should be exempt from new paternity rules that came into force on April 3rd 2011.

Only a small minority believed that the new rules would be positive for their business.