Government response to flexible working consultation

Last month (January 2023), the Government published its response to the “Making Flexible Working the Default” consultation launched back in September 2021.

The key points

• Employees will have the right to request flexible working from the first day of their employment. Currently, the right is only available to employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service. The response recognised that this is not a “one size fits all” approach and emphasised that the legislation should remain a right to request, not a right to be automatically entitled to flexible working. Nevertheless, a blanket refusal of a flexible working request might be indirectly discriminatory in some circumstances unless it can be objectively justified.
• Employers will be required to consult with employees before rejecting a flexible working request. This is to encourage wider consideration of alternative working arrangements rather than the outright rejection of unworkable requests and facilitate open and constructive conversations to find flexible working arrangements that work for both employers and employees.
• Employees will be permitted to make two flexible working requests in any 12-month period (rather than one).
• Employers will have to respond to a flexible working request within two months (instead of three).
• Currently, employees have to explain in their application how the effects of their flexible working request might be dealt with by their employer. The consultation found that this was an unnecessary burden for employees and so the requirement will be removed. The expectation is that this will be discussed jointly during consultation.
• An employer who refuses a flexible working request will still need to rely on one of the eight statutory grounds for refusing a request of this nature. There will be no change to the current list of business reasons an employer can give for refusing a flexible working request.
• The Government will develop enhanced guidance on how to make and administer temporary requests for flexible working in order to increase awareness of the right to request a time-limited change. It will also launch a call for evidence to better understand how ad hoc and informal flexible working operates in practice.

What does this mean for employers?

Currently, there is no timeline for when the changes will be implemented. However, the Government has recently confirmed its support for the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill, which addresses most of the proposals in the consultation response.

Employers should look at updating the details of their policies and procedures when the time comes in order to accommodate the proposed changes and provide management training on dealing with flexible working requests.

Contact our employment law solicitors today

If you have any questions regarding your business and flexible working policies and requests, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the employment law team at Ashtons Legal.

Please get in touch with our specialist Employment Law team through this website or by calling 0330 191 4836.

Our partners at Ashtons HR Consulting are also on hand to assist you.