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Employees are to have the right to request flexible working from the moment they start work under new government legislation, in a move welcomed by unions, who urged ministers to go further in terms of making such arrangements the norm.
Millions of people across the UK are currently working flexibly, which can take a variety of forms including working from home, job-sharing, compressed hours, flexitime and part-time and term-time-only working.
On Monday, the government said it would introduce legislation giving employees the right to request such arrangements from the moment they start work. It also said about 1.5 million low-wage workers, including some gig economy workers, students and caregivers, would benefit from the new law in that they are free to supplement their income by taking on another job if they want.
Surveys by companies such as insurance company Royal London show that many people increasingly see flexibility as an important or even non-negotiable requirement when applying for a job, and with companies grappling with acute worker shortages, a growing number of employers are looking to make this work. Having to offer. pattern if they want to recruit and retain staff.
However, some workers told the TUC survey that they did not feel comfortable asking for flexible working in job interviews for fear of a backlash.
On Monday, ministers said they planned to “make basic work flexible”. However, critics have pointed to the government’s clash with civil servants and unions over the issue of domestic work.
In October 2021, Cabinet Minister Oliver Dowden said civil servants working from home should “get off their pelotons and get back to their desks”. Earlier this year the then minister for government efficiency, Jacob Rees-Maughney, was criticized for leaving “respectful” notes on the desks of civil servants who were not in the office, in an attempt to discourage working from home.
Under current law, all employees can request flexible working after 26 weeks on the job. One request can be made every 12 months, and the employer has three months to respond, broad criteria for rejection and no right of appeal.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said millions of employees would be able to ask for flexible working from their first day of employment under its new law.
Employers will need to discuss other options before refusing a request – for example, if it is not possible to change the employee’s working hours on all of their days, they may consider changing some days.
BEIS also said that workers on contracts with a guaranteed weekly income below the lower earnings limit of £123 a week would be protected against “exclusivity clauses” that bar them from working for multiple employers.
It added that “while not everyone wants a second job”, the move would remove unnecessary red tape for those who did, such as some gig economy workers, young people and people with caring responsibilities in full-time roles.
However, BEIS did not provide a time frame for the legislation. Francis O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, pointed out that it had been a year since the consultation on flexible working closed and that people were “tired of waiting for work”.
O’Grady said allowing requests for flexible arrangements from day one was a step in the right direction but the government “needs to go further to ensure flexible working now becomes the norm”.
She added: “Ministers should change the law so that every job advert specifies what kind of flexible working is available in that role. And they should give workers the legal right to work flexibly from their first day on the job – not just the right to ask.”
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