Partner Article

Flexible working for all

James Hall, an Associate at Charles Russell LLP, shares his views on the flexible working legislation announced by Nick Clegg last year, due to take effect in 2015.

Many have focussed on parents being able to share up to 12 months of parental leave between them. However, the additional proposal to allow anyone to make a flexible working request to assist with childcare, be they family or friend, is the one that may in practical terms be more challenging for employers.

Whilst flexible working has always existed to an extent, recent years have seen a significant uptake in parents working reduced hours or days. Mothers do still form a clear majority, but an increasing number of fathers are also choosing this route as attitudes towards parenting change.

It was inevitable that some adjustments would happen to the current system and the change to parental leave is no surprise at all. However, the proposal that grandparents or a family friend could request to work flexibly is a step that has been welcomed almost universally by unions and parental support groups.

Employers on the other hand have been understandably wary of this announcement and the impact it may have on them. Clegg’s assertions that this change will be positive for business, encouraging loyalty and hard work from employees and so increasing net revenue by £222.5 million are lofty ones that may not reflect the reality for many businesses.

It is important for employers to remember that, unless there is a significant change to current legislation, they will not be obliged to accept every request. If there are genuine business reasons as to why a request cannot be accommodated, then it can be rejected.

Some trade organisations feel that the increase in people making requests could cause friction and employers do need to be alive to the issue of discrimination. Currently, claims for wrongly rejecting a request are more straightforward. However, under this new system, there are a lot more interests to weigh up and therefore claims that could be brought. Employers should ensure that they have a clear policy for how to deal consistently with any such requests.

Both employees and employers will no doubt watch with interest to see if these proposals become a reality and, if so, in what form.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Charles Russell LLP .