The right to make a statutory flexible working request is only available to employees who have 26 weeks continuous service with their employer and haven’t made a request in the last 12 months. This is in line with the Flexible Working Regulations 2014.
However, following the Coronavirus pandemic, the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) has highlighted the “unfair practices” of flexible working in the UK and are consequently campaigning for “Flex from 1st”, aiming to make flexible working arrangement more equal and accessible for employees from the first day of employment.
Currently those in manual/lower paid occupations do not have the same access to flexible working opportunities as managerial/higher paid occupations. The CIPD have found that nearly half of UK employees do not have flexible working; including remote working, flexi-time, job shares, compressed hours, part-time or flexible working arrangements. Currently the South (London, Anglia and the South Eat) has the highest uptake and authorisation of flexible working requests, whereas The East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber have the lowest uptake and authorisation across the 12 regions in the UK.
There are many opportunities and benefits for allowing flexible working in all roles;
Employer Benefits
• Recruitment and Retention
• Employee engagement and loyalty
• Enhanced work performance
• Diversity and inclusion
• Avoiding negative employee outcomes
• Employees going ‘above and beyond’
• Positive work culture
• Creating buzz around the brand
• Workforce in line with needs
Employee Benefits
• Enhanced job satisfaction
• Better health
• Decreased chance of burnout
• Improved work-life balance
• Adaptability and openness
• Greater access to job market
• Diversity and Collaboration
• Increased motivation and productivity
https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/flex-from-first-benefits-to-employers_tcm18-90031.pdf
https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/flex-from-first-benefits-to-employees_tcm18-90030.pdf
Recent research looking at flexible working arrangements and the impact of COVID-19 found that the use of flexible hours – such as part-time or flexi-time – has dropped over the last year, while working from home has increased. The continuing of this downward trend in flexible hours, may result in many missing out on the opportunity to work flexibly. Employers need to ensure that all employees has access to a variety of flexible working opportunities and work to find solutions that best suit individual preferences alongside business needs.
To address this and to boost the number of people using a variety of flexible working arrangements, the CIPD are calling on organisations and the government to make the right to request flexible working a day-one right for all employees through our #FlexFrom1st campaign.
There haven’t been any changes in legislation yet, nor have any formal petitions been launched, however we will keep you up-to-date on any changes as they occur. If you would like to discuss authorising flexible working requests for employees with less than 26 weeks continuous service, please give one of our HR Team a call on 01924 827869.
