{"id":2479,"date":"2021-10-07T14:56:26","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T06:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2479"},"modified":"2021-10-07T14:56:26","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T06:56:26","slug":"5-things-employers-should-know-about-flexible-working-rules-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/5-things-employers-should-know-about-flexible-working-rules-in-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"5 things employers should know about flexible working rules in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A year and a half into the great \u201cwork from home\u201d experiment in the UK (and globally), one thing is clear: the way employers view work and measure productivity is outdated. Many roles can easily be done from home &#8211; or at least flexibly, and brings about many advantages for both employers and employees. A key benefit is that of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/PacomoPrimowski\/6-tips-for-building-a-diverse-and-inclusive-workplace-249642172\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">diversity and inclusivity<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, as flexible working enables parents and those with caring duties to have thriving careers and contribute to business success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While this group long had the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/flexible-working\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">right to request flexible working<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the rules were changed to give all employees this right, as long as they had worked continuously for the same employer for at least 26 weeks. But a more radical change may be looming. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/1019526\/flexible-working-consultation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">government is proposing <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to give all employees the right to request flexible working from day 1. Let\u2019s explore the 5 things employers should know about flexible working regulations in 2021 in this <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pacific Prime UK<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> article.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><div class='code-block code-block-4' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.com\/assets\/pdf\/PP%20Brochure%20-%20Corporate%20(Web).pdf?campSource=PPUK-Blog&utm_source=blog&utm_medium=content_banner&utm_campaign=banner&utm_content=corporate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-775\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/PPUK-blog-banners-1138x493-px_02-07.jpg?resize=700%2C303&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Corporate insurance banner\" width=\"700\" height=\"303\" \/><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Flexible working can be quite varied<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flexible working is any working pattern other than the normal working pattern. There are many different ways of working flexibly. It can involve changes to an employees\u2019 working hours and place of work, or even the times they\u2019re required to work. The UK government has the following ways of working flexibly:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Job sharing:<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This involves two employees doing the job of one employee, splitting the hours and the remuneration.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Working from home:<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This involves an employee completing all of their tasks from home and employees not being obliged to go to the office.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Part-time:<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This involves an employee working fewer hours than full-time hours, typically by working fewer days.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Compressed hours: <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This involves an employee working full-time hours, but this can be spread over fewer days.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Flexitime<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: This involves an employee choosing when to start and end work (within\u00a0 agreed limits), but work certain core hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Annualised hours<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: This involves an employee having a certain number of hours in a year, i.e. \u2018core hours\u2019 worked each week and \u2018flexible hours\u2019 when there\u2019s extra demand.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Staggered hours<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: This involves an employee having a different start, end, and break times as other employees.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Phased retirement: <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This involves an older employee reducing their hours and working part time until they retire.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Further reading<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Did you know that flexible working arrangements were the key tool for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/the-key-tool-for-supporting-female-employees-during-the-pandemic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">supporting female employees during the pandemic<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Employees have a right to request flexible working<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the moment, as long as they\u2019ve worked continuously for the same employer for the last 26 weeks, employees can apply for flexible working. That said, they can only make one application for flexible working in a year. They will have to write to the employer to make their request and include the following information:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The date<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A statement that this is a statutory request<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Details of how the employee wants to work flexibly and when they want to start<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An explanation of how they think flexible working might affect the business and how this could be dealt with, for example if they\u2019re not at work on certain days<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A statement saying if and when they\u2019ve made a previous application<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While special events (major sporting events, royal weddings, etc.) are not reasonable grounds for employees to request flexible working, granting some kind of flexibility for special occasions could be good for staff morale. As such, it\u2019s a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/employee-benefits-ideas-for-your-workforce\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">creative employee benefit<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to consider as long as employees can make up the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Employers must be consistent and can only refuse the application if there is a valid business reason<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When employers receive a flexible working request from employees, they should be consistent in their approach. This involves keeping records of who has applied to work flexibility in the past, what the response was, and how the new arrangement is working. This should inform the response to other requests, which employers are required to deal with reasonably.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s how employers are required to handle flexible working requests in a reasonable manner:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Assess the advantages and disadvantages of the application<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hold a meeting to discuss the request with the employee<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide a response within 3 months, or longer if agreed with the employee<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s also vital to note that employers can only refuse the application if there\u2019s a valid business reason to do so. For example, some reasons for refusals could be the burden of extra costs, inability to meet customer demand or reorganise work amongst other employees, detrimental effect on quality or performance, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees can appeal.\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the event that an employer refused an application, the employee in question may appeal the decision. In some cases, if the employee feels like the employer hasn\u2019t handled the request in a reasonable manner, the employee can take them to an <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/employment-tribunals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">employment tribunal<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Employers must change the terms to the contract if they accept the request<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For approved requests, employers are also required to write to the employee with a statement of the agreed changes and a start date for flexible working, as well as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/your-employment-contract-how-it-can-be-changed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">change the terms and conditions in the employees\u2019 contract<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This should be done as soon as possible, but no later than 28 days after the request was approved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Health and safety is still a priority\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although employers may have a homeworking policy in place, they still have health and safety obligations. Some employers may also choose to go a step forward and offer employee benefits (including health-related benefits) that are <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/rethinking-employee-benefits-for-remote-workers-in-the-uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tailored to a remote workforce<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. The flexible working rules may change to be more generous to employees<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As alluded to previously, the government is proposing to give all employees the right to flexible working from day 1. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/1019526\/flexible-working-consultation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">consultation document<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was published by the Department for Business, Energy, &amp; Industrial Strategy and the closing date is December 1st, 2021. The changes proposed in the consultation document reflect the changing nature of work in the post-pandemic world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the proposed change, employees will no longer need to work continuously for an employer for 26 weeks before being able to request flexible working, and thus have more freedom in switching jobs and benefiting from flexibility from day 1. The proposal would also see employers having to respond to flexible working requests more quickly than the current maximum of 3 months, and force employers to outline exactly why any requests were refused.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Benefits of flexible working for employers<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, all this talk about flexible working doesn\u2019t mean employers should worry. There are a number of advantages for employers including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increasing the talent pool by enabling a wider demographic of employees to apply to the role, and tapping into their unique skills, experiences, and perspective<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Boosting employee happiness and wellbeing, which translates into greater motivation and productivity<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Further reading: <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discover more about flexible working arrangements and tips to implement them in our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.com\/corporate\/global-employee-benefits-trends-2020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Global Employee Benefits Trends Report 2020<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get in touch with Pacific Prime UK today!<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a global health insurance brokerage and employee benefits specialist, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pacific Prime UK<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has over two decades of experience helping employers of all sizes and industries design and implement <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/plans\/group\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">group health insurance<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/employee-benefits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">employee benefits solutions<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. We keep up-to-date with the latest regulations (including the flexible working rules) and market trends, and use a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.com\/corporate\/approach\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tailored, technology-driven approach<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that keeps your goals and business interest in mind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To learn more about what we can do for you, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.com\/corporate\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">arrange a FREE consultation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with a member of our corporate team today!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><div class='code-block code-block-7' style='margin: 8px 0; clear: both;'>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.com\/corporate\/?campSource=PPUK-Blog&utm_source=blog&utm_medium=cta_banner&utm_campaign=banner&utm_content=corporate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-780\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pacificprime.sg\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/PPSG_Bus_01.jpg?resize=700%2C303&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Business Insurance banner\" width=\"700\" height=\"303\" \/><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A year and a half into the great \u201cwork from home\u201d experiment in the UK (and globally), one thing is clear: the way employers view work and measure productivity is outdated. Many roles can easily be done from home &#8211; or at least flexibly, and brings about many advantages for both employers and employees. A &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[765,101,766,630,662,1278,1459,1601,96],"class_list":["post-2479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-ban_cor","tag-corporate-insurance","tag-cta_cor","tag-employee-benefits","tag-employee-benefits-solutions","tag-flexible-working","tag-flexible-working-arrangements","tag-flexible-working-rules","tag-group-health-insurance"],"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/flexible_working.png?fit=1140%2C495&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcnTsc-DZ","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2479"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2482,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2479\/revisions\/2482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pacificprime.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}