You might have heard about the Flexible Working Bill that’s set to come into action this week, and thought, ‘Well that sounds good’.
The more you look into it, though, the less shiny it seems.
In theory it should make flexible working more accessible to employees – but as many of us know, fighting for flexibility in the workplace is a battle often lost.
A survey from Totaljobs found flexible working was the number one desired benefit from jobseekers – and even 38% of workers would skip a pay raise in order to have a flexible working benefit.
What you need to know about the new Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 changes:
- Employees will be able to make two flexible working requests in any 12 month period (only one is allowed currently)
- Requests have to be dealt with by employers within two months of receipt of a request if no extension is agreed
- Employers are not able to refuse a request until they have ‘consulted’ with the employee (although there is no explanation of what consultation needs to include)
- This is some misbelief that employees will now be able to make a request from day one of starting a job, but this isn’t true. Employees still need 26 weeks of service before making a request. There is a chance this may change, but reducing the weeks of service would require secondary legislation to be introduced.
Vanessa Sturman, 36, from London, tried to arrange flexible working in her last job, but the company was having none of it.
Six years ago, she submitted a request to arrive and leave earlier, essentially shifting her workday forward by about 30 minutes.
‘I wanted to alter my hours slightly so I could avoid the tube madness in the morning, and sometimes get to a gym class post-work,’ she says.
‘The crowding on the Tube was affecting my mental health and I’d be stressed before the day even started.
‘I’d often not make gym classes, and if I attended later ones, the whole evening would be gone, meaning I had less quality time to recharge.’
Her request wouldn’t have affected any meetings or interactions, she ‘just wanted flexibility of 30 mins either side of the day’.
When the request was rejected, she was told ‘that’s just how things are’, and that she could come in as early as she liked, but she couldn’t leave before 5.30pm.
‘I’d always be expected to stay until 5.30pm every day even if I’d been in an hour before everyone else,’ she says.
‘Even 5.15pm or 5pm was an unacceptable time to leave, even if you’d worked through a lunch break.’
The outcome made Vanessa feel ‘anxious and underappreciated’, and she couldn’t see the logic in it.
‘I could see how people were struggling under the work system that was so prescriptive and treated everyone like a child,’ she adds.
Soon after this, she left and began working freelance as a coach, founding Energise and Thrive Plant Based, which gave her much more freedom.
Antonio Fletcher, head of employment at law firm Whitehead Monckton, says he has seen people struggle to access flexible working.
He tells Metro.co.uk: ‘The new legislation provides increased opportunities for employees to request flexible working, but there is uncertainty around the procedural requirements associated.
‘Employers therefore need to carefully consider how they go about updating, or even implementing, any such flexible working policies they have.
‘It is expected that ACAS will publish updated guidance that will address the procedural elements the legislation has failed to.’
He believes flexible working can boost ‘morale and productivity’ in employees, which benefits employers in the long run.
However, ’employer attitudes’ need to change in order for this to have a real impact.
‘Flexible working can take shape in many forms, such as working from home, alternative hours (such as staggered, compressed or flexible hours), and part-time work,’ he adds.
‘Employers need to be more open to and accepting of flexible working.
‘Whilst to many, flexible working, is the “new norm”, there are employers who still have a negative attitude towards it and some who do not engage with the process at all.
‘The biggest change to make flexible more accessible is therefore attitudes of employers.’
Until then, no new legislation can suddenly create the working conditions so many UK employees hope for.
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