Due to forthcoming legislative changes employees will be able to seek greater work flexibility after the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill passed into law on 20th July 2023. The new law is expected to come into force in 2024.
Forthcoming changes include:
- It is expected that employees will have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment, however, this is not explicitly stated in the Bill and may be dealt with in secondary legislation to provide clarity.
- An employee will be allowed to make two applications (rather than one) for a flexible pattern of work during any 12-month period
- Employees will no longer be required to explain what effect, if any, their flexible working request would have on the employer and how that effect might be dealt with
- It will be a requirement for an employer to consult with the employee about their flexible working application before refusing it
- The employer will have to notify the employee of its decision about their flexible working application within two (rather than three) months
There will be no change to the eight statutory reasons employers may use to refuse a request for flexible working. These are as follows:
- The burden of additional costs
- Detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand (e.g., pupils/parents)
- Inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff
- Inability to recruit additional staff
- Detrimental impact on quality
- Detrimental impact on performance
- Insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work
- Planned structural changes
In readiness for these changes, schools may wish to review and update any existing policies on flexible working. Schools may also wish to permit all employees the right to request flexible working from day one of employment ahead of the changes coming into force.
In response to these legislative changes, ACAS has launched a consultation on updating its statutory Code of Practice, closing 6th September 2023. The aim of the Code is to provide employers, employees and representatives with a clear explanation of the law on the statutory right to request flexible working, alongside good practice advice on handling requests in a reasonable manner.
HR Customers can access additional information and resources on the Flexible Working pages of our HR Resources Hub.
