The employment law changes that came into effect in April 2024 are likely to have been overshadowed for many by the general election and the multitude of proposed employment law changes that have been put on the table by the Labour party.
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, which came into effect in April, introduced a day one right to request flexible working. This replaced the previous requirement for 26 weeks of continuous employment to qualify for the right to request flexible working.
The Labour government has however gone a step further, promising in its ‘New Deal for Working People’ that it will help ensure workers can benefit from flexible working, including opportunities for flexi-time contracts and hours that better accommodate school terms where they are not currently available, by making flexible working the default from day one for all workers, except where it is not reasonably feasible. Although Labour has promised to introduce legislation on this and many of its other proposed changes within 100 days, it will likely be ambitious to expect to see these reforms within the first year.
Some employers may be concerned about the prospect of flexible working being the default from day one, with it possibly resulting in resourcing challenges and the balancing of competing demands from employees. The intricacies of how the change will play out in practice will become much clearer once we have sight of the specific legislation.
However, until then, HR teams would be wise to start thinking about what this change might mean for them and to start planning so that they can adapt easily. For example, employers will need to spell out much more clearly the requirements of any specific role. Is it a role where intense periods of concerted effort will be required, or does it require high levels of in-office collaboration? Job adverts and specifications will need to be much more detailed and precise.
The change will also likely place further pressure on the recruitment process, with employers and employees both needing to be very clear from the outset what their expectations are. The job seeker will need to explain what they want and the employer will need to confirm whether or not that is likely to be compatible with the role. If the nature of the role does not allow for flexible working the onus will be on employers to make this known.
Difficulties may arise for employers where the requirements of certain roles mean that they are incompatible with flexible forms of working. This could result in opportunities for indirect discrimination claims to be brought, or for a greater gender pay gap to arise, so employers will need to monitor any trends carefully and be able to justify why certain roles cannot be carried out in a flexible manner.
Overall, the change will likely put a lot of pressure on HR processes to make sure they are sharper and more robust. However, provided an employer is in tune with the genuine requirements of the available roles and communicates this clearly to prospective employees, or at the point of promotion, then this change should be manageable and hopefully the catalyst for employees to be able to better balance work and personal lives.
Amanda Glover is an associate in the employment team at Clarkslegal
