Proponents of versatile working have been exhilarated in July by information that the Versatile Working Invoice had acquired Royal Assent, paving the best way for it to develop into a part of the regulation of the land. Actually, the UK authorities was eager to promote the advantages of the invoice, promising that it meant staff throughout the nation would take pleasure in extra freedom and management over the best way they work.
Sadly, the reality is the brand new invoice leaves a lot to be desired and is unlikely to contribute a lot constructive momentum to the versatile work revolution.
The contents of the invoice
The very first thing to say is that this isn’t technically a brand new regulation in any respect, however an modification to the present Employment Rights Act 1996. And fairly than granting staff a brand new proper to versatile work, the principle objective of the Employment Relations (Versatile Working) Act 2023 – to offer it its full title – is to make modifications to the present statutory proper of workers to request versatile work. The Act is unlikely to come back into pressure till mid-2024, however what precisely are these modifications and the way will they profit staff?
The primary change is to extend the variety of occasions an worker can request switching to a versatile working association. At present, workers can solely make one request in any 12-month interval. This can enhance to 2.
Second, workers can count on sooner outcomes, as employers will now solely have two months to think about and reply to a request, as a substitute of three below the present regulation.
Third, workers will now not be required to elucidate what impression their request can have or want to supply solutions for the best way to mitigate any impression when making a versatile work request.
Additionally it is anticipated that workers will have the ability to make a versatile work request on day one in every of their job, as a substitute of getting to attend 26 weeks earlier than asking. Nevertheless, this isn’t contained within the Act itself, however will likely be set out in secondary laws that’s anticipated to come back into pressure similtaneously the Act.
However why has the UK authorities made these amendments to this course of? Is there that a lot demand for versatile work?
The versatile work revolution
The time period “versatile work” is broad. It doesn’t simply confer with working from residence or working remotely, but in addition to having versatile begin and cease occasions that go well with an worker’s want. Providing flexibility is meant to scale back stress and provide a greater work-life steadiness, and employers might think about providing it to draw new expertise or retain current workers.
Most analysis factors to an enormous, untapped demand for extra versatile working preparations. As an example, LinkedIn knowledge indicated that the demand for distant worokay (only one type of versatile work, but in addition a typical one) vastly outstrips the availability of distant work roles.
Distant work is especially widespread because it presents staff the selection to stay wherever they select, with out limiting their profession prospects. Distant staff use it to spend extra time with their household as a substitute of commuting, stay nearer to relations, or travelling to totally different nations whereas remaining employed.
However the advantages of distant work additionally prolong to employers. Companies that undertake distributed workforce fashions have a a lot bigger pool of expertise out there to them, together with expert staff dwelling abroad. Firms can construct worldwide work groups as a primary step to getting into new markets or provide round the clock companies to prospects in several time zones.
Our personal analysis on the subject, the 2023 Distant Workforce Report, highlighted a number of benefits provided by distant work. Based mostly on a survey of 1,000 decision-makers around the globe, the report discovered that 69% of employers who’ve adopted distant work skilled elevated workers retention, whereas 57% said it was simpler to rent and retain expertise with a distant workforce. Moreover, 72% of employers with a world distant workforce stated that productiveness had elevated – this challenges the frequent assumption that distant work is much less productive.
Boosting productiveness and producing cost-savings via elevated retention are win-win for companies that embrace distant work. Nevertheless it will also be a aggressive benefit: with increasingly more staff searching for versatile work preparations, providing staff this flexibility might help appeal to expertise away from rivals.
Given this context, ought to we view the versatile working invoice as a significant step ahead? Not essentially.
A missed alternative
The reality is the legislative modifications within the Act will not be sufficient to have an actual impression on staff. The Act is merely tweaking an current course of for requesting versatile work – a course of that’s needlessly bureaucratic and painstakingly sluggish (it mustn’t take an employer greater than two weeks to seek the advice of with related stakeholders concerning versatile preparations, not to mention two months).
A key drawback is that the Act nonetheless in the end provides employers the suitable to reject an worker’s request. The actual fact a employee can now make a number of requests a 12 months is unlikely to sway an employer who’s sceptical about the advantages of versatile work.
Companies might additionally face a bureaucratic headache if a number of workers all make versatile working requests, as every request will have to be processed individually. Adopting easy company-wide insurance policies for versatile work might assist organisations keep away from this time-consuming paperwork.
The UK authorities ought to have seemed to European friends who’ve established extra versatile rights for staff. It’s significantly tough within the Netherlands for employers to reject a versatile work request, whereas staff in Finland have the suitable to start out or end their work three hours earlier or later than their core working hours and most workers can select the place and after they work for at the least 50% of their working hours.
So whereas the Versatile Working Invoice is one thing of a missed alternative, all is just not misplaced. The versatile working revolution is marching on; increasingly more corporations are recognising this pattern and providing higher flexibility choices to their staff with a view to appeal to expertise and retain expert staff. It’s these forward-looking corporations which might be going to race forward of the competitors.
