Workers will be given the right to ask for flexible working hours from day one in a new job, the government has proposed.
New legislation means workers won’t have to wait 26 weeks to seek flexible arrangements, as the current law provides.
The government also wants to introduce legislation that will make it easier for people on low incomes to find a second job.
Flexible working continued after the UK emerged from Covid lockdowns.
The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said if an employer cannot accommodate a request for flexible working, they must discuss “alternative options” before refusing it.
Flexible working not only means working from home, but also job sharing, flextime or staggered working hours.
Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD, which represents the human resources industry, said: “This new law will help normalize talks about flexibility at the start of employment, with significant benefits for workers in terms of well-being and work-life balance.”
The Government also said it plans to lift “exclusivity clause restrictions” on workers on contracts who are paid £123 or less a week. It will allow people to work for multiple employers and take part-time jobs.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said flexible working is keeping “moms in work” and helping to close the gender pay gap.
“But we want the government to go much further to ensure flexible working now becomes the norm,” said Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC.
“Ministers need to amend the law so that every job advertisement makes it clear what type of flexible work is available in that role. And they should give workers the legal right to be flexible from day one on the job — not just the right to ask,” she said.
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