3 pillars of successful CFOs: Strategic leadership, technological integration, and work-life harmony
Discover the 3 critical areas of success that constitute the foundation of contemporary financial leadership.
Bruno Boksic
Bruno is a freelance HR writer who specialises in talent management, employee engagement, gamification, and learning and development.
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act has been discussed for a while and has been brought in to address the global shift happening in the workplace.
It’s not just a UK initiative. The European Union (EU) has brought in the work-life balance directive. Along with other measures, it also introduces similar flexible working measures. The UK legislation effectively mirrors the EU legislation.
Flexible working is here to stay, and businesses will have to adapt their approach to create an attractive workplace for current staff and attract new talent. A recent Acas survey found that 30% of employers have seen an increase in staff working from home in the past year. These working conditions have contributed £37bn annually to the UK economy, while businesses that refused to adapt to these working conditions cost the UK economy £2bn annually.
In this article, we’ll discuss the Act’s highlights, what it means for your business, what changes you’ll need to implement, what new systems you’ll need to have in place, and how you can communicate all of that to your employees.
Here’s what we cover:
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act is more than just a legislative requirement. It’s a fundamental reinvention of how your employees (and your business) operate. This Act provides employees and workers with more rights regarding flexible working, especially regarding employment terms such as working hours and employment location.
Acas chief executive Susan Clews said: “There’s been a global shift and changed attitudes towards flexible working. It has allowed more people to better balance their working lives and employers have also benefitted from being an attractive place to work for staff that value flexibility.”
With the Act, your business can promote flexible working conditions, attract new talent, retain your current employees, reimagine the future of work, and build a resilient workforce that can quickly adapt to any new challenges. For that to happen, businesses have to adapt their current systems and workflows to suit this new way of working.
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act came into effect on 6 April 2024. This bill offers employees an unseen amount of rights when it comes to demanding flexible working conditions. However, this isn’t a move that just helps employees. It will help employers, too.
The Act is designed to nudge businesses to start using flexible working conditions, which can actually help to boost their performance. You’ll have access to more people and you’ll have different ways how you can use the strengths of these people to achieve your business results. However, it will require a certain level of adaptability.
HR leaders need to reassess the workplace policies and practices to ensure that they fit into the new flexible working models. The goal is operational effectiveness and efficiency and the HR leaders should create processes that would enable that, taking flexible working conditions into account.
Flexible working conditions involve workplace arrangements that provide certain flexibility to employees regarding their work duration, location, and time of work.
Here’s a selection of flexible working conditions:
Flexible working arrangements such as hybrid working allow businesses to foster a flexible, agile work environment that embraces lifestyle diversity. However these arrangements must be supported by the right digital solutions, for example, Cloud Hosting technology provides a globally accessible workspace for all users, allowing your employees to be connected and productive, regardless of device and location.
Business and trade minister Kevin Hollinrake said: “Not only does flexible working help individuals fit work alongside other commitments – whether it’s the school drop off, studying or caring for vulnerable friends and family – it’s good business sense too, helping firms to attract more talent, increase retention and improve workforce diversity.”
So let’s see what’s changed with this new Act.
When an employee requests flexible working conditions, their requests will have to be in written form and:
With the new rules, employees can ask for a change in:
There are also some things that haven’t changed with the new regulation:
Employees can still request changes to their working hours, specific working days, or their working location. These requests can be permanent or temporary.
Even though the new Act makes it easier for employees to request flexible working, it’s not a right to flexible working. Employers can and still have the option to refuse the request from employees to flexible working.
These reasons are still in place and are:
Considering the new Act is in effect, you’ll have to speed up your adaption process and ensure you’re aligned with it (if your business isn’t already).
Here are seven steps to take right now:
Looking for further support regarding the new Flexible Working Act? Our friends at Haus of HR specialise in supporting employers in navigating the complex world of HR compliance. They can help you keep up to date with the latest changes in employment law and ensure that your business remains compliant.
The enactment of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act has brought many changes to how businesses operate daily, especially regarding flexible working conditions for employees.
The businesses that adapt to these changes can use the Act to attract great talent and provide their current staff with favourable working conditions that would motivate them to stay with the company, while also helping them to improve their productivity.
Discover the 3 critical areas of success that constitute the foundation of contemporary financial leadership.
The term “Big Stay,” reflects the current trend of declining staff turnover and a reduction in job vacancies. In this new era, employees are increasingly prioritising stability over change, leading to fewer job openings and a growing reluctance to switch employers.
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