Dawn Butler, the Shadow Women & Equalities Secretary, has said that a Labour Government would enhance flexible working rights by allowing employees to make a request for flexible working from day 1 of their employment
The Current Position On Flexible Working Rights
At the present time, a request for flexible working can only be made after 26 weeks in the same employment. Furthermore, the employer is under an obligation to deal with the request in a "reasonable manner", must provide a decision within 3 months, and can only reject the request on one of the following grounds:-
- It would produce excessive additional costs.
- It would have a detrimental impact on the ability of the business to satisfy customer demand
- Unable to reorganise the work amongst other staff
- Unable to recruit
- An adverse impact upon quality
- An adverse impact upon performance
- Not enough work during the periods the employee wishes to work
- Planned structural changes to the workforce.
Labour's Proposals On Flexible Working Rights
Under the Labour Party's flexible working rights proposals, the right to request flexible working would become a day 1 right, as opposed to a right acquired after 26 weeks continuous service with the same employer. Moreover, there would be a presumption in favour of flexible working, which would mean that the onus would be upon the employer to show that the role was not suitable for flexible working should they turn down the request. At the moment, the onus is upon the employee to show that the role is suitable for flexible working
Dawn Butler stated that a change of approach to flexible working rights is required because: "Women do the vast majority of unpaid care, but this must not be a barrier to women in work. That’s why I’m announcing Labour’s plans to introduce rights to flexible working from day one of employment. This change to the law is essential to closing the gender pay gap and dismantling the structural barriers that hold women back from promotion and progression. It may also result in more men taking on caring responsibilities themselves, finally lightening the load that women bear. Under Labour’s plans, no woman will be shut out of the workplace because they’re a mum or they care for a parent or a disabled loved one, or both. We need an economy that works for women, not against us."
A Change Of Attitude To Flexible Working Rights Is Required
Leaving the party politics to one side, a change in attitude towards flexible working rights is required by employers. Advances in remote working technology has made flexible working and home working much easier than it was, and removed many of the old barriers to flexible working over the last 20 years. With this new technology, employers have less scope for arguing that flexible working would undermine team integration, damage productivity, or undermine communications. Indeed, the greatest barrier to flexible working these days appears to be a purely psychological one on the part of many employers, who appear to still be wedded to the old 20th century way of working of 9-5 in an office. If only they would take time out to properly consider how the new technology can be of benefit to their businesses and their employees, by delivering more smart and flexible ways of working, many of them would undoubtedly learn to embrace and adopt it.
One of the chief benefits of flexible working is that it assists in producing a happier and healthier workforce. For example, a recent study by the University of the West of England (UWE), found that "every extra minute of commuting time reduces job satisfaction and leisure time satisfaction, increases strain and worsens mental health." Dr Kiron Chatterjee, of the UWE at Bristol, added that: "The findings indicate that longer journeys to work have adverse subjective wellbeing effects, particularly through loss of free time. An important message for employers is that job satisfaction can be improved if workers have opportunities to reduce the time spent commuting, to work from home, and/or to walk or cycle to work – such commuting opportunities are likely to be good news for employee wellbeing and retention and hence reduced costs to businesses." Furthermore, The Daily Telegraph recently reported that: "In England average commuting time per day has risen from 48 minutes to an hour, and one in seven commuters are now spending two hours or more each day travelling to and from work." Hence, for somebody who has to spend 2 hours every working day commuting to work, for every day that their employer allows them to work flexibly from home, the employer is providing that employee with 2 hours of extra free time. Given the findings of the UWE study, that would increase job satisfaction and improve their health and wellbeing. And as study after study has shown, a happier and healthier workforce is a more productive workforce. Hence, enhancing flexible working rights would undoubtedly be of benefit to both the economy and to wider society
