How flexible will you be?

In 2014, employers in the UK had to adapt to a brand new procedure - when employees gained the right to request a change to their working arrangements. There was a strict process to follow when dealing with a request and if you didn’t feel able to accommodate the requested change then you had to pick a lawful reason from a prescribed list.

However, at that time, the right only applied to people with at least 6 months’ service.

10 years later, from 6 April 2024, the right to request flexible working will apply to everyone in your business, from day one of their employment. So, how flexible will you be? And how will you deal with requests you may receive from people who want to make changes?

There are many benefits to accommodating different working arrangements. It can help people to better balance their working lives alongside their personal responsibilities, needs and preferences. It can be beneficial for the health and wellbeing of employees. It can also help to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces. All these things can benefit your business in terms of staff recruitment, retention, loyalty and productivity.

Types of working arrangements

Once upon a time, people generally worked at their employer’s premises, for 5 days per week, Monday to Friday, 9-5 each day, for all 52 weeks of the year. In some organisations, there is still a normal working pattern that most people adopt, but many people now have different working arrangements.

So what could people ask to vary? Here are some examples:

Considering a request

If someone asks you about changing their working arrangements, to stay on the right side of the law, you need to deal with it formally. You also need to make sure that you confirm your decision within two months of the request.

First, ask them to put their request in writing and explain how they see the new arrangements working in practice.

After thinking about the possibilities and challenges, hold a meeting with the employee to talk about the request. Approach the meeting with an open mind and engage in a meaningful discussion, exploring potential alternative solutions if there will be business problems associated with the requested arrangements.

After the meeting, confirm your decision to the employee and put the outcome in writing - make sure it’s within two months of the original request.

If you decide to decline the request then make sure you have a lawful basis to do so. There are a number of reasons you can lawfully refuse, but you can’t just decide you don’t like their suggestion.

You can refuse due to the burden of additional costs associated with the change, or if you won’t be able to reorganise the work amongst existing staff or recruit additional staff to cover the work. You can also refuse if you believe the change will have a detrimental impact on performance, quality of work or your ability to meet customer demand. In addition, if someone wants to work at alternative times, but there will be insufficient work available for them at those times, then that’s a lawful reason to refuse.?

Preparing in advance

Not every type of flexible working will be suitable for every role in your organisation, but it’s a good idea to think through the possibilities in advance, before someone approaches you.

In particular, it’s a good idea to consider what the boundaries are for each role before you start recruiting. Then you can make it clear to candidates what might be possible and what definitely isn’t.

Start with exploring and? understanding what tasks within the role definitely need to be done at a particular time or in a particular place. Keep an open mind and think creatively, don’t create barriers that don’t exist. At the same time, be realistic about what will cause real problems for your business.

Enhance your management skills

You’ll notice that none of the lawful reasons for rejection talk about you finding it difficult to manage people who don’t all work at the same time in the same place. So, you may find that you need to rethink the way you manage your team, how you set expectations and assess performance, how you maintain relationships and ensure good communication. This may sound like a lot of effort, but all these skills will help you get more from your staff in general, not just when you have flexible working patterns.