The legislation will strengthen employee rights to flexible working, while the government has also committed to bring in a day one right to request flexible working for employees. However, the law does not go far enough in protecting flexible working, as it still gives employers the power to reject flexible working requests.
In the joint statement that DR UK was a signatory of, we stated:
“The Act will strengthen the rights that employees have when requesting flexible working and the government have committed to introducing a day one right to request flexible working for all employees alongside the Act.
Most importantly we want to thank the thousands of people who fought tirelessly to raise awareness of the importance of flexible working for everyone. Your actions got us here.
Whilst this is an important step, the government must go further.
Mums, dads, Disabled people (including those with Long Covid), carers and older workers are just some of the groups that we know are more likely to need flexibility to get into work, stay and progress. And flexible working is important for everyone to achieve better work life balance and make time for life outside work.’’
But even with the new legislation, those who need flexibility to work will be forced to ask what arrangements are available in the recruitment process. We know many applicants don’t mention flexible working due to justified fears of discrimination or rejection."
Flexible working should be available to everyone – those of us who need it for our health, caring responsibilities or travelling commitments, amongst other things.
To further strengthen flexible working rights, the government should:
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Unlock the flexibility in all jobs. There are a range of hours-based and location-based flexibilities to choose from – and there is a flexible option that will work for every type of job. Employers should think upfront about the flexible working options that are available in a role, publish these in all job adverts and give successful applicants a day one right to take up any of those options.
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Make flexible working a genuine legal right from the first day in a job. People should have the right to work flexibly from day one, unless the employer can properly justify why this is not possible. Workers should have the right to appeal any rejections. And there shouldn’t be a limit on how many times workers can ask for flexible working arrangements in a year.
We are proud to be co-signatories to this statement, and whilst things need to go further, this law is an important step in the right direction to strengthen flexible working policies.