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From 6 April 2024, flexible working will become a day one right, allowing eligible employees from the first day of their employment to make a flexible working request. Depending on when your client’s employee started working for them, this could be the reason they are delaying submitting the request.
Other changes to the law on flexible working are also expected to take place, but as yet it is unclear whether or not this will also be on the 6 April 2024 or at some other point in the future, as parliament has not yet confirmed the regulations that will bring these other changes into law.
The other changes to flexible working are as follows:
• Employers will be required to consult with the employee when refusing a request.
• Employees will be able to make two requests in any twelve-month period.
• The response time to deal with a request, including appeal, will be two months.
• Employees won’t have to set out the effect their requested arrangement will have on the business.
Under the proposed new rules, the application the employee has to submit will be markedly different and not have to provide any details as to what the impact of the request could be, and how the employer might deal with it; this will make it easier for employees who have not working in a business for long to make requests, but it will mean employers have more to think about when dealing with a request. This may be why the employee is intending to wait, as less time will be required for them to work on the application.
Another possible reason for the delay is the introduction of the requirement to consult with an employee before refusing their request, as this will give the employee more of an opportunity to challenge the employers thinking and potentially enable them to persuade the employer to accept their request. Under the rules for requests made prior to 6 April 2024 there is little opportunity to do this.
If the proposals do come in, they will also introduce the right to make two requests in a 12-month period. Currently, this is limited to one. As a result, it may be that your client sees an upsurge in flexible working requests as more employees become aware of the changes (should they come into place). Your client should know that any requests made prior to 6 April 2024 should also be included in this time limit.
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