Employees to be given day one right to request flexible working

Every employee is to be given the right to request flexible working – regardless of time served – under Government plans to modernise working practices.

Joanne Stronach Head of Employment and HR provides an update.

There will also be a day one right to one-week’s unpaid leave for carers balancing a job with caring responsibilities.

Ministers say the changes will make for more productive businesses, whilst accommodating both staff and employer needs.

Under the plans, currently subject to public consultation, around 2.2 million more people will be given the right to request flexible working.

The proposals consider whether limiting an employee’s application for flexible working to one per year continues to represent the best balance between individual and business needs. The consultation also looks at cutting the current three-month period an employer has to consider any request.

If an employer cannot accommodate a request, as can be the case, they would need to think about what alternatives they could offer – for example, if they couldn’t change their employee’s hours on all working days, they could consider making the change for certain days instead.

The consultation looks at a range of flexible working methods such as job-sharing, flexitime, compressed, annualised and staggered hours, as well as phased retirement – not just working from home.

It allows employees to balance their work and home life, including helping people who are managing childcare commitments or other caring responsibilities as well as ensuring that people who are under-represented in Britain’s workforce, such as new parents or disabled people, have access to more opportunities.

The Government believes the proposals are also good for British business. Ministers say that research has shown companies that embrace flexible working can attract more talent, improve staff motivation and reduce staff turnover – boosting their business’s productivity and competitiveness.

However, there are some circumstances where businesses will not be able to offer flexible working.

In such cases, ministers say employers should still be able to reject a request if they have sound business reasons.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Empowering workers to have more say over where and when they work makes for more productive businesses and happier employees. It was once considered a ‘nice to have’, but by making requests a day one right, we’re making flexible working part of the DNA of businesses across the country.”

The Government has also set out what carer’s leave entitlement will look like:

• One working week of unpaid carer’s leave (per employee, per year) will be available as a day one right to those managing caring responsibilities for those with long-term care needs alongside work.
• Eligibility, both in terms of who the employee is caring for and how the leave can be used, will be broadly defined.
• The leave will be available to take flexibly (i.e. from half day blocks to a whole week).
• There will not be an extensive administrative process to ensure legitimacy of requests to take Carer’s Leave as the leave is unpaid.

The measure will also look to balance the needs of the employee with the employer, with a minimum notice period of twice the length of time being taken, plus one day (in line with annual leave notice periods).

If you would like more information about any aspect of employment law please contact Joanne on 01228 516666 or click here to send her an email.