Kemi Badenoch defended legislation introducing the right to flexible work despite opposing the measures during the Conservative leadership contest.
Minutes of a meeting during her time as business secretary last year, Ms Badenoch and businessman James Dyson were discussing the Tory government's plans for flexible working laws.
The Tory leadership candidate ordered a review of the impact of the flexible working bill following her meeting with Mr Dyson, giving workers the right to ask for flexible working.
The documents show that during the meeting Badenoch mounted a defence of the bill and told Dyson that flexible working “goes beyond working from home, such as the ability to work compressed hours”. “[The] bill seeks to allow employees to request these from day one of employment not mandate companies into agreement,” she said.
However, she has since been a vocal opponent of flexible working during the race to become the next Tory party leader.
“I find it extraordinary that Labour are scraping the policy barrel here to find more ways of flexible working when actually we need to get more people into the workplace.
"They are not learning, they’re not getting the skills at the same rate they used to, which is one of the challenges of working from home.”