With the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill moving closer to becoming law, employees are set to benefit from a positive reform of employment rules which reflect growing trends toward flexible working across the UK.
Under current legislation, a person who has 26 weeks of continuous service with their employer can request a change to their working hours, the times when they are required to work, or their place of work, between the office and their home. Such requests are usually driven by the individual’s particular circumstances. The employee must also explain the effect of the change on their employer and can only make one request in a 12-month period.
The amendments proposed in the bill, which are supported by the government and received an unopposed reading in the House of Lords, would allow employees to make two requests in any period of 12 months and they no longer have to explain the impact on their employer. An important change is that the employer cannot refuse an application without first consulting with the employee. Workers would also have the right to request flexible working from their first day in a job, rather than waiting 26 weeks.
The reform of flexible-working rules has been a government policy, supported by the opposition, since 2019, but was expedited in the wake of the 2020 lockdown. The bill’s passage through Parliament follows a wide-ranging governmental consultation on flexible working carried out in December 2022.
Flexible working is different from the new trend for hybrid working, as flexible working requests are made by individuals and involve a change in the contract of employment. The trend towards hybrid working began when the country was locked down in 2020. Firms had no choice but to change working routines and conditions, and allow people to work from home.
However, people realised that hybrid working did not necessarily result in a loss of productivity. Post-pandemic, many employees expect their employers to continue to allow them to work from home and employers introduced hybrid-working policies applicable to all employees whose job can be done outside the office, allowing them to work partly in both the office and at home.
The challenge now facing employers is to prevent the depersonalisation of the working environment and the fragmentation of the workplace. With flexible and hybrid working showing no sign of reduction in appeal to workers, employers will have to find ways to adapt to the new working culture.
Stephen Morrall is a consultant at Hunters Law
