FLEXIBLE WORKING CHANGes from April 6th 2024
The newly approved Employment Rights Bill will be effective from 6th April 2024 and includes some important changes regarding Flexible Working.
Here's what you need to be aware of:
All employees will be able to request flexible working from day 1 of their employment (whereas they previously needed 26 weeks continuous service).
An employer must consult with the employee who made the request to discuss alternative arrangements (however the ‘8 reasons to refuse a request’ will stay in place). Previously employers could outright requests for 1 of the 8 defined reasons)
All employees will be able to make 2 requests for flexible working in any 12-month period. (Previously this was only one request a year)
Employers will have 2 months from the date of request to make a decision and handle any potential appeals (previously 3 months)
Employees will no longer have to explain how a flexible working request would affect you as their employer, nor will they have to explain how to deal with this change. It will be your responsibility to consider the business impact, (previously this was part of any employees statutory request for flexible working)
Supporting you with these changes...
If you are already an EZHR member, to support you with these changes we have updated our Flexible Working Policy and associated template letters.
We have also updated policies which had relevant dependencies namely the hybrid working policy.
It is important that you read through these documents and provide updated versions to your employees and teams to ensure compliance with the new laws.
Access the latest documents anytime via the EZHR portal.
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