Flexible working rights extended from 6th April 2024
The right to request flexible working has now been extended to cover all employees, irrespective of their length of service. The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 comes into effect on 6th April 2024 and guarantees that flexible working requests will, for applications made on or after that date, become a ‘day one’ right for all employees.
What does this mean for you as an employer?
Previously employees required 6 months service in order to submit an application to work flexibly. An employer was not obliged to consider such requests from new employees. Now an employer must seriously consider such requests from all employees, although it must be remembered that a request to work flexibly does not automatically have to be granted.
The types of flexible working a new employee might now request include working from home, hybrid working or flexitime arrangements. It is unlikely that new employees will want to request some of the other recognised forms of flexible work such as reduced hours, career breaks or job sharing.
Serious consideration should be given to all requests and an assessment made of the pros and cons. The request can be refused but there must be business grounds for doing so, such as costs, inability to meet customer demand or damage to the business.
A meeting should be arranged with the employee in reasonable time and a decision made within 2 months (previously 3 months). If the request is granted then contracts may need to be amended and reissued. If it is denied then an appeal should be allowed as part of the ‘reasonable consideration’ process but an appeal in these circumstances is no longer a statutory right.
Other changes to flexible working
The Employment Regulations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 introduced further changes to the right to request flexible working for all employees. These also come into force from 6th April 2024.
The other changes are as follows:
- The number of requests that can be made has been increased from one per year to two.
- The amount of time that an employer has to make a decision to grant or deny a request has been reduced from 3 to 2 months.
- The requirement for employees to explain the impact of their flexible working request on the employer has been removed.
- When rejecting a request to work flexibly, there is now an obligation to consult with employee first.
Other changes to flexible working
If you have not already done so, you will need to update your flexible working policy to reflect the changes taking effect from 6th April 2024. As with all changes in policy, it is then important to communicate the changes to employees, line-managers and key decision makers. This is necessary to avoid mistakes being made and requests being mishandled.
Written by Paul Murphy
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