The Liberal government is launching consultations on legal changes that would give all federally regulated employees the right to ask for flexible work hours.

The proposed change to the Canada Labour Code would apply to the roughly 12,000 businesses and 820,000 employees in areas such as banking and transportation. The rules would cover about 6 per cent of the Canadian work force. Ottawa says it is in discussions with the provinces regarding similar changes that would apply more broadly to provincially regulated jobs.

A discussion paper released Monday said the move is meant to address concerns over work-life balance, particularly among the millennial generation of workers born between 1980 and 2000.

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"As a number of recent studies suggest, many are seeking more flexibility in when, how and where they work because they highly value work-life balance. Millennials are the fastest growing segment of Canada's workforce and have now become the largest generation in the Canadian workforce," states the paper, released by federal Employment Minister MaryAnn Mihychuk.

Under the proposal, a worker could submit a formal request to their employer for flex time, such as shifting the traditional work day to make time to pick up kids from daycare. The employer would be required to respond to the request within a set deadline and provide an evidence-based rationale in the event that the request is denied.

The government's consultations seek input on how this would work in practice, whether fines would be involved, whether employees should have access to an appeal process and whether this should apply to unionized employees, given that such issues are normally addressed through collective bargaining.

According to the discussion paper, other jurisdictions with similar rules include Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some U.S. jurisdictions, including Vermont and San Francisco.

The change was promised as part of the Liberal Party's 2015 election platform.

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said many employers are already open to flex-time arrangements and he worries the proposal will lead to unnecessary government interference in the decisions of private businesses. "I think this is a potentially alarming policy area for the federal government to engage in at a time when employers are already getting hit pretty hard," he said.