According to certain newspapers, Labour’s new Employment Rights Bill will grant employees the right to DEMAND a four-day working week. Except that, no, it won’t. Employees will have the right to REQUEST a shorter working week, but they already can under the existing framework for flexible working requests. Moreover, the new Bill did not even deliver on Labour’s promise to make flexible working the default position for all workers from day one.
So what will change? And how should employers now respond to flexible working requests?
The Current Framework
At present, employees can make a formal request to change their working arrangements up to twice a year. This might cover a request for part time work, different start/finish times, or working from home. Employers must deal the request in a ‘reasonable manner’ including a requirement to consult with the employee about the application and provide a response within two months.
Employers can, however, reject the request for any one of eight rather broad reasons, including the burden of additional costs, inability to meet customer demand, difficulties in reorganising work or recruiting additional staff, or a detrimental impact on quality or performance. Crucially, however, very little is required of the employer in terms of having to objectively justify its decision or support it with evidence.
Compensation is limited to 8 weeks’ pay, and only available if there has been a procedural error or the employer relied on incorrect facts. There is no scope to challenge the validity of the employer’s actual judgment on the matter.
What’s new?
The main change under the Employment Rights Bills is that the employer’s refusal of a request must now be reasonable, meaning that they must go further in articulating and justifying their decision. Hardly a giant leap from the current regime, but it does strike a better balance between the competing interests of employer and employer. Indeed, I suspect many will be surprised that it didn’t form part of the legalisation in the first place.
There is no change to the current compensation limit, but do be careful, as most challenges in this area are not actually based on the rules governing flexible working, but are formulated as indirect discrimination claims – the refusal to grant flexible working having a disproportionate impact on mothers with childcare responsibilities or those with disabilities. Compensation in those types of claims is uncapped and can be significant.
Work-Life Balance
Another employment protection that didn’t make it into the Employment Rights Bill was the proclaimed ‘right to switch off’ and disconnect from devices when outside of work.
Of course, just because the Government hasn’t (yet) imposed rules on such matters, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t worthy of consideration. As technology increasingly blurs the lines between work-life and home-life, discipline is needed (by all parties) to ensure that a degree of separation, and sanity, is preserved. Progressive employers understand that this balance can create happier, healthier employees, who are more focused and more likely to stick around.
Likewise, the idea of a four-day working week has gained momentum in recent years, with proponents claiming it can lead to increased productivity by reducing burnout, improving work-life balance, and promoting better mental health. It can also reduce the need for part-time work arrangements and promote greater gender equality in the workforce.