Flexible working in for an overhaul?
21 Sep 2021
1 min read
The government has been promising a review of the right to request flexible working for some time - it even featured in its election manifesto back in December 2019. It looks like Thursday will see the consultation launched. Given the heavy trailing we can assume, I think, that the proposals will include the right to request becoming a day 1 right. With hybrid and flexible working now common parlance it remains to be seen if this change will be quite the radical intervention it might have been back in 2019. Of more interest to employers, possibly, will be whether the government will moot the curtailing of the currently wide range of permissible reasons available to employers who want to turn down a request - at the very least the employer's reasons may be subject to more scrutiny - which would potentially be more problematic. Interested to see what Thursday brings.
Staff to gain right to request flexible working from first day