The pandemic brought with it many changes to our lives, most of which have been temporary. One change that many people found worked well for them was working from home, and as the country has returned to places of work such as offices, some workers have preferred to work flexibly or mainly at home moving forward.
Today, we are delivering on a manifesto commitment to strengthen employment rights for millions of workers by giving them the right to request flexible working from day one, creating happier employees and more productive businesses. We are empowering every employee with the right to request flexible working from day one, giving them greater choice over how when and where they work, and boosting businesses’ productivity and competitiveness.
The proposals consider whether limiting an employee’s application for flexible working to one per year continues to represent the best balance between individual and business needs. The consultation also looks at cutting the current 3-month period an employer has to consider any request.
The consultation looks at a range of flexible working methods such as job-sharing, flexitime, compressed, annualised and staggered hours, as well as phased retirement – not just working from home. It allows employees to balance their work and home life, including helping people who are managing childcare commitments or other caring responsibilities as well as ensuring that people who are under-represented in Britain’s workforce, such as new parents or disabled people, have access to more opportunities.
Michael said:
"I have always made sure that my staff have the chance to work flexibly, including working from home. I am pleased that the Government are consulting on making this easier for all employees"
