The UK’s incoming flexible working law: a no-brainer?
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This week's edition of PinkNews Careers+ is all about flexible working and will take a look at the incoming flexible working law in the UK, the benefits of flexible working, and how this impacts the LGBTQ+ community.
What the UK’s incoming flexible working laws mean for you
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill went through a third reading in the House of Lords with no additional amendments last week and now only requires Royal Assent before becoming law.
The legislation is set to give the UK workforce more say in how they work than ever before – including being able to request remote or flexible working patterns from the first day at a new job.?
Currently, employees have to work for 26 continuous weeks to request changes to their working hours, pattern or location.?
In addition to employees having the right to flexible working immediately, new provisions in the bill require employers to respond to requests within eight weeks and allow employees to make two flexible working requests in any 12-month period.
The bill also states that if an employer cannot accommodate a request to work flexibly, they are required to discuss alternative options like part-time, flexible or home working before they can reject the request.
According to the UK?government website, millions of employees will “have a greater say over when, where, and how they work” and businesses are “set to benefit from higher productivity and staff retention as a result.”
The government’s new measures define ‘flexible working’ as anything from remote working to job-sharing, flexitime, or working compressed, annualised, or staggered hours.
Commenting on the bill when introduced in December of last year, the UK’s Minister for Small Business, Kevin Hollinrake MP , said:
“Giving staff more say over their working pattern makes for happier employees and more productive businesses. Put simply, it’s a no-brainer.
“Greater flexibility over where, when, and how people work is an integral part of our plan to make the UK the best place in the world to work.”
A change eight years in the making
While the push for a right to flexible working accelerated throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conversation started back in 2015 when Anna Whitehouse , a journalist and founder of the parenting website Mother Pukka, kicked off the Flex Appeal campaign along with her husband Matt Farquharson, making the case for a better work-life balance for working parents.
In an emotional LinkedIn post shared last week that has been liked over 50,000 times, Whitehouse wrote that employers will:
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“[Employers] will have to look you in the eye and tell you why it’s not possible to do your job around childcare responsibilities, around a disability, perhaps, around anxiety; around human needs.”
How flexible working can benefit the LGBTQ+ community
While the data is clear that the burden of maintaining a household still largely falls on women, the Flexible Working Bill will benefit all marginalised groups, including the?LGBTQ+ community
Paul Britton , Director and Solicitor and the employment law firm?Britton & Time, believes that these new laws are another step in the right direction for workplace equality.
He tells PinkNews that the Flexible Working Bill will provide great benefits for the LGBTQ+ community:
“Those who want to have children and become parents as they will be able to ask for flexible working around school runs, school holidays and time they need at home with their children.”
“Up until now, it’s been recognised that mothers need this,” he continued, “and in some small description fathers and their paternity leave that they are already entitled to.
“This is a big step for our community, and getting it recognised officially and by law in terms of equality is fantastic.”
What do you think of this new bill? Let us know in the comments below.
Other related articles:
This newsletter was curated by?Sarah Dean?and features articles written by?Erik Niewiarowski.
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1 年https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/bupa-dental-care-uk_bupadentalcare-dentistry-beyouatbupa-activity-7090299790814502912-L8I5?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios
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1 年Glad I could contribute to this article and keep the community #informed and updated !
?? Elevating Professional Women to New Heights: Balance, Success, Beyond the Stars ??
1 年It is good where possible for people to have flexibility, so much better for work-life balance and mental health.
Int. People and Development Advisor | The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Ciarb) | Member of the The CIPD in London Branch ??| ProudHR Member | IHR Member | LGBTQIA+ Activist ??????????
1 年This is great but, I wonder how long it takes the resistors to get on board. LGBTQ+ people experience discrimination with regards to the most basic of things. It's great that this bill has passed, it really is but, will it just become a tick box exercise? Next bill I'd like to see change is around bereavement! Many handbooks out there talk about immediate family but we are all very aware that a lot of LGBTQ+ people have a chosen family and are only allowed 1 day off to grieve.
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1 年This is great news! ?? I'm looking forward to seeing the benefits of flexible working for the LGBTQ+ community. I'd love to collaborate with you on this and other projects. Hit me up with a LinkedIn invitation and let's get started! ??