May/Jun 2024

30
South Woodford Village Gazette
Time for flexitime
Jo Cullen from local solicitors Edwards Duthie Shamash takes a look at
the improvements to employee rights following recent changes to the
flexible working request regime
Flexible working is a way of working
that suits an employee’s needs, for
example, having flexible start and
finish times, or working from home. All
employees have the legal right to request
flexible working. On 6 April 2024, changes
to the new flexible working request regime
came into force. The headline changes
include:
• An employee can request flexible working
from their first day of employment; there is
no qualification period.
• When making a request, an employee no
longer has to explain what effect, if any,
they think their requested change will have
on their employer and how any such effect
might be dealt with.
• An employee is entitled to make two
requests in any 12-month period.
• An employer will not be permitted to refuse
a request unless the employee has been
consulted.
• The time for an employer to make a
decision is reduced from three to two
months.
The new rules are very much to the benefit
of the employee, giving them the ability
to request flexibility from their first day of
employment. There has been much debate
about this Day One right and the impact the
change may have on employers. However,
flexible working is increasingly a topic for
discussion during the recruitment process,
and the impact may not be as great as
initially expected with prospective employees
looking to agree varied terms before starting
employment.
Whilst an employee has the right to request
flexible working, an employer does not have
to agree to the request if it is not feasible and
the rejection reasoning falls within one of the
business reasons that continue to apply as set
out in the legislation.
Employers will have to deal promptly with
requests within the new set time limits,
although there is still scope to extend this
time by agreement. Any request must be fully
considered and discussed. Where a request is
not to be agreed, a full consultation must take
place and all steps taken clearly documented,
including details around variations to the
proposed changes or alternative roles to
reduce the risk of an appeal and, ultimately, a
claim being issued.
Employers will need to be ready to implement
these changes and ensure they are familiar
with the new rules and the updated Acas
statutory code of practice on requests for
flexible working.
Edwards Duthie Shamash is located at
149 High Street, Wanstead, E11 2RL. For
more information, call 020 8514 9000 or
visit edwardsduthieshamash.co.uk
To advertise, call 020 8819 0595 or visit swvg.co.uk