Employees have long wanted more flexibility in the workplace. For many, it is such a high priority that the lack of flexibility has become an obstacle.
But things may start to look different now.
In some parts of the UK, new measures that came into force last weekend allow employees to choose flexibility at work from day one.
Employees in England, Scotland and Wales now have the right to request flexible working from the day they start a new job, rather than waiting 26 weeks as required under previous legislation.
Flexible working covers a wide range of workplace arrangements, whether part-time, remote or compressed working, and may differ from employee to employee.
The new regulation isn’t a major change to what’s already in place, but it will help normalize conversations about flexible working and make it easier for employees to request it from the start. The aim of these measures, when they were first approved last year, was to create a “happier workforce” which could help Britain improve productivity, Business and Trade Secretary Kevin said Hollinrake.
While flexibility has increasingly become a need in the workplace, it is not without its challenges.
Why do people in the UK care about flexible working?
The onset of the pandemic forced people to adapt to remote work, but exiting it has been more difficult even with return-to-office mandates. Now people are struggling to maintain any semblance of flexibility.
In the UK, this has translated into increased turnover as 2 million people leave their jobs due to a lack of flexibility every year, according to a report by professional body Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). The benefits related to flexibility are what over 50% of people looking for a new job are looking for.
This was stated by Amy Cunningham, founder of the employment law firm Cunningham Legal Fortune that employees value flexibility for the productivity benefits it offers. But there’s more.
“If managed correctly, the benefits for employers are significant. These include increased productivity/performance, reduced sickness absence and stress, increased employee morale, increased employee retention and, in some cases, reduced costs,” she said.
Given the clear call for flexibility from employees, the potential benefits of the regulation could be huge as around 2.2 million people could now have the option to request an arrangement that works best for them. In the long term, this could translate into greater productivity in the workplace, something the UK desperately needs.
On the other hand, limited flexible work options are often more punitive for some sectors of the workforce than others, including women, older workers and those with disabilities. However, the new regulation could prove beneficial by allowing people to work in the way that best suits them without impacting productivity or production.
“There is good evidence that flexible working practices can help recruit and retain staff, particularly those with caring responsibilities, older workers and those with health problems,” said Ben Willmott, head of public policy at CIPD. Fortune.
Despite the benefits, employers are concerned
The experts said so Fortune that the regulation could potentially be imposed on employers without necessarily helping them.
“Clearly, flexible working requests create an administrative burden for employers,” said Alex Bearman, partner at London law firm Russell-Cooke, who specializes in employment law. Fortune. He gave the example of logistical challenges if multiple team members choose to limit their working hours. In more extreme cases, employers could be hit with discrimination claims for refusing employees who are new mothers or who have long-term health issues to work remotely.
Studies have shown that there are downsides to remote working (which is a form of flexible working) such as proximity bias and disconnection with the team during onboarding, which employers are aware of.
“Covid has already shifted the parameters of what is “normal” to work in more remote and hybrid environments, but it is not always for the better (neither for employers nor for employees) and, as is now evident, there are substantial disadvantages in both of these cases. types of work,” said Andrea London, partner at Winckworth Sherwood.
The new measures are a tool for employees, but they will not deprive employers of their say in the workplace either.
While they will have to respond to employee requests within two months (and not three, as before), they also have the right to refuse the request for a variety of reasons, including a negative impact on the quality of work or performance. Employers must also discuss with employees before they refuse a request.
As the old adage goes, it really is all about balance. The benefits of flexibility cannot be ignored, which is why the right to request it is now available to every employee. It could certainly help the wider UK workforce too.
“While it seems unlikely that a stand-alone right to flexible working will be introduced anytime soon, the Government appears to see greater flexibility in how we work as something that is likely to benefit the economy as a whole,” says Bearman.
Cunningham believes that the new regulation is not a giant step towards adapting to the needs of employees, but is “a small step in what many would consider ‘the right direction'”.
“The hope is that such arrangements will become much more common and that employees will not be afraid to ask for flexible working opportunities early in the employment relationship,” he said.