Workplace Flexibility

As well as the snow, the strikes, and the slowly dwindling days until Christmas, the subject on everyone’s lips this week has been workplace flexibility.?

Since June 2014, only employees who have?worked for an organisation for 26 weeks or more have had the right to request flexible working.?

At the time, it was a huge step in the right direction towards achieving an easier balance between home life and working life, however the 26 week rule has proven to be a barrier to both employees and employers in realising the full business and personal benefits of embracing flexible working practices.?

Whilst this legislation opened up the conversation about flexibility, and led to employers addressing their policies and practices, challenges remained and campaigners including?Anna Whitehouse?(author and ‘Mother Pukka’)?Working Families?(the flexible working charity), and?the Timewise Foundation?(the flexible recruitment social enterprise) have been continuing to push for further progress.

As a result the ‘Making Flexible Working the Default’ consultation began on the 23rd September 2021 and closed for submissions on the 1 December 2021.

The consultation sought to addresses various features of the original legislation that campaigners felt impeded the progression of flexible working, including:

1) The rules did not always apply and led to inconsistency

It’s true that the?rule?said ‘26 weeks’, but flexible working requests submitted before this point were often accepted as long as the employee could state a positive case i.e. how their suggested working pattern would benefit their team and the business.?

Lots of employers enhanced the 26 week rule too and offered flexibility from the first day of employment or at the point of passing probationary periods. Whilst all enhancements are great news for employees, a person might not always ask, or be aware of the policy.?

A potential applicant may also not be aware of any enhancements to a company’s policy or know the company benefit might override the government statutory requirement.

2) It didn’t maximise the attraction of Talent?

If the confidence or awareness to have the conversation about needing flexible working isn’t there, then the ability to attract and recruit talented individuals from a wider pool was limited with the 26 week rule.?

Potential candidates often decided to ‘stay where they were’ rather than lose their hard won right to flexible working and work for six months before they can even request it.

The rule also limited female career progression and stopped companies from accessing the very best talent.?Flexible workers should be able to request a promotion or move to another organsiation and take their flexibility with them.

3) It limited organisations who demonstrate best practice in other ways.?

Following specific rules sometimes leads to process over innovation.?

Complex policies based on legislation often meant that some companies miss out on creating innovative ways to present themselves as inclusive employers in other areas and sometimes develop innovative or creative ways to harness flexible working.?

Since the start of the consultation last year,?the?#Flexfrom1st?campaign has been relentless and strong across social media in the press. Nearly 12 months have passed and finally on the 5th December 2022, the government announced a move to change legislation in several areas based on the outcome of the consultation, meaning a success for campaigners as the government announced the following changes:

• They will remove the 26-week qualifying period before employees can request flexible working, making it a day-one right.
• They will require employers to consult with their employees, as a means of exploring the available options, before rejecting a flexible working request.
• They will allow employees to make 2 flexible working requests in any 12-month period. (Previously this was limited to one request every 12 months)
• Employers will need to respond to requests within 2 months, (reduced from 3)
• There is no longer a requirement for employees to set out how the effects of their flexible working request might be dealt with by their employer

Additional commitments include:

• Guidance will be developed to raise awareness and understanding of how to make and administer temporary requests for flexible working.
• A call for evidence will be launched to better understand how informal flexible working operates in practice

The government consultation also committed to allowing 1.5 million low-paid workers, including some gig economy employees, students and carers, to benefit from a new law ensuring they are free to boost their income by taking on a second job if they wished.

So what does this mean for diversity and inclusion?

Flexible working is so often mistaken for ‘part time’... and ‘part time’ has for so long been associated with the ‘motherhood penalty’, putting working mothers (and often fathers)?at a disadvantage in the workplace.?

All of us will find ourselves with a need for long or short term flexible working patterns at some time in our lives for our mental health, family life or career aspirations. Therefore it is really important to recognise that this change in legislation will have a significant impact on many more people, not only working parents or those with caring responsibilities.For example, workers phasing into retirement or returning from career breaks, people who may want to manage their commute carefully because of physical or mental conditions, and those who want or need portfolio careers, this new legislation will be very welcome.?

Homeworking is now common for many employees as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but many people can’t work in that way, and may never have thought about asking for other patterns which might allow a better work life balance e.g. split shifts, self rostering as a team, working compressed hours, annualised hours, term time, flexi-time, or a job share.?

The new announcement this week means that awareness of all types of flexible working will be raised, and that any stigma will hopefully be reduced.?

What have employers already been offering?

Many employers have been committing to using the?Happy to Talk Flexible Working?strapline since it was announced in 2014 to show their commitment to being explicit about the flexibility they could offer in any role regarding location, timings and hours.

Many organisations have already been offering the ‘Right to Request’ from day one of employment, or following a successful probationary period for several years.?

Some best practice employers have created steering committees to decide on things such as an organisation’s approach to short term flexible working needs, and to measure the positive business impact on tenure and staff satisfaction.?

John Lewis?launched a suite of initiatives in 2021 which included 26 weeks of paid leave for all new parents regardless of gender, and a ‘Flexible First’ policy which offered flexible options in every role.?

McDonalds?offered a large range of flexible patterns, and recently won an award from Working Mums for their support of parents, and for their success engaging with their people throughout the Covid pandemic.?

What’s next for the world of flexible working?

• Whilst employers must fairly consider every request, they can still say ‘no’. The right to request is?not?a right to work flexibly.
• Employers must work hard to assure their senior team that there are genuine business benefits to approving flexible working requests. Happier and healthier teams and a more efficient workforce all leads to better productivity and profitability. Convincing a senior team may mean training, and providing evidence of things such as staff satisfaction in relation to take-up of flexible working, improvements to tenure and a drop in sickness absence.?
• Consistency is key. Saying ‘yes’ to all requests can be just as damaging as saying ‘no’ every time if the needs of the person and the business aren’t considered with a set process. Only with a fair assessment plan can fair decisions be reached. If teams can function well, they will feel confident that flexibility works.?
• Flexibility must be flexible. It’s common for many employees to also get stuck in their flexible pattern, when the needs of their family and work might have changed years into their new agreement. So it’s important for line managers to assess the ever changing situation in 1:1 meetings and annual appraisals.?

The community at WiHTL as always wishes to achieve working environments where any person can work and thrive and reach their full potential and we hope to see this new legislation lead to further understanding that ‘part time’ does not mean ‘part commitment’, but potentially a better, cost-effective and healthier way of working for all.

To see the full government consultation, click?here.

To see more about using the Happy to Talk Flexible Working strapline, click?here.