The UK government has recently announced plans to allow workers to request flexible working arrangements from the first day of their new job, rather than the current requirement to wait 26 weeks.
Flexible working can include arrangements such as part-time work, working from home, job sharing, flexitime, and compressed hours. Allowing employees to request flexible working from the start of their employment can have a number of benefits for both employees and employers, including increased productivity, improved work-life balance, reduced absenteeism, and increased diversity in the workforce.
Employers will be required to consider such requests in a fair and unbiased manner, and may offer amended contracts to employees whose flexible working requests are approved. Employees who are denied flexible working requests will have the right to appeal the decision in an employment tribunal.
In summary the measures the government is committing to will:
- remove the 26-week qualifying period before employees can request flexible working, making it a day-one right
- require employers to consult with their employees, as a means of exploring the available options, before rejecting a flexible working request
- allow employees to make 2 flexible working requests in any 12-month period
- require employers to respond to requests within 2 months, down from 3
- remove the requirement for employees to set out how the effects of their flexible working request might be dealt with by their employer
Read more here.
