Keeping up to date
We take seriously our responsibility to keep you up to date so that you can use changes in employment law to commercial advantage. By understanding and interpreting the latest case law and legislation we can deliver updates to you that are concise and usable. With imagination, we are able to ensure that developing law can be used to allow you to achieve commercial solutions, cost effectively and expediently.
Flexible working day-one right – 06 April
From 06 April, employees will be able to make a flexible working request from day one of their employment. The new right will apply to any requests made on or after 06 April.
As well as becoming a day-one right, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 also makes the following changes effective from 06 April:
Number of requests per year – employees will be able to make up to two flexible working requests each year (instead of just one, as is currently the case).
Time limit – the time limit to deal with requests (and any appeals) is being reduced from three months to two. You can still extend this period with an employee’s express agreement.
Consult – you’ll need to consult with employees before rejecting a request, but the same eight statutory grounds for rejecting a request still apply.
Dealing with challenges – when making a request, employees will no longer be required to explain how any challenges resulting from their proposed flexible working arrangement should be dealt with.
Update your flexible working policy – you’ll need to update your flexible working policy and any other supporting documentation to include these changes (everything you need is on our Intelligent Employment platform). Ensure you’re managers are trained so they’re ready to deal with any requests from 06 April.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need our guidance on implementing these changes or training your team!