From 6 April 2024, employees in England, Scotland and Wales can now request flexible working from the first day on a new job. This means workers no longer have to wait 26 weeks or more to ask for a flexible working arrangement, as per previous regulations.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development CEO Peter Cheese told The Guardian that the new right could benefit millions of workers.
“Flexibility around time, scheduling and place of work can be transformative in opening up opportunities for people to get into and stay in work, especially those who have health conditions, caring responsibilities, or other life choices they want to make,” said Peter.
IEP Corporate Affiliate Partner, Belina GRoW, have been championing flexible working for years.have been championing flexible working for years as part of their FLEX Family Friendly Employers initiative.
Liz Sewell FIEP, Director of Belina GRoW, said: “The right to request flexible working from day one is now the law. It is already the case that many employees are going to want to work in the ways that suit their lifestyle, which might be about their family, their mental health or just a choice to work in a particular way. The sensible thing to do is to look how you can flex all your work to attract and retain the best staff and to enable them to do the best job.”
Here are Liz and Belina GRoW’s five steps to future proofing your organisation:
1) Consider each job
Review every job in your organisation: where and when the job will be done, the hours required and the outcomes that need to be achieved, not just the hours worked.
2) Consider where
Where does the person need to be to do this job? Is the person always, sometimes or never required in the workplace? Could they do the work somewhere else, like home?
3) Consider when
Are there core hours when a job must be undertaken, or hours when it can’t be done?
4) Consider how
Is this a full time job? Can it be split between people? Can one person do the work part-time? Consider different combinations of hours and days.
5) Consider outcomes
As a manager it’s your job to understand what needs to be done, and to support your team to achieve the best outcome.
Once you have this you can look at how you can flex your whole organisation and see the benefits you gain, said Liz.
For more information on the regulations around Flexible Working visit https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working
For more information on how to become a more flexible employer visit https://flexfamilyfriendly.org/
