By Lisa Gallagher, co-founder and director of Flexibility Works
There’s been some colourful reporting this week about the King’s Speech, and Labour’s plans to deliver more flexible working and improve workers’ rights. If you’d like the facts rather than hot air, read on, and we’ll unpick what was said, and what it really means for flexible working.
‘Default flex’
Labour said in its plan to Make Work Pay that it will make flexible working ‘the default except where it is not reasonably feasible’. It didn’t say all workers will get a right to work flexibly, which is what has been reported by some media.
We think some form of flex is possible in almost every role, so we’re naturally pretty pleased with Labour’s intentions. But so far, we’ve had no detail on HOW the Government will make flex the default.
And while employers should be able to say no to a flex request if there’s a genuine business reason, what counts as ‘not reasonably feasible’? It’s open to many interpretations. And is this really any different to our current legislation that says employers can refuse flex for one eight permitted business reasons? We don’t yet know.
Right to switch off
The other flex, or ‘work life balance’ promise that’s got some people up in arms is Labour’s plan to bring in a ‘right to switch off’. This would be a similar to the set-up in Ireland where there is a code of practice for employers. The code isn’t legally binding, so it’s not ‘onerous legislation’. But it helps nudge employers and remind them what’s reasonable.
The code of practice in Ireland says employees have a right to:
- Not have to routinely perform work outside their normal working hours.
- Not be penalised for disconnecting.
- And that all workers and employers have a duty to respect another person’s right to disconnect.
We think that sounds pretty reasonable. Certainly nothing for employers to be overly concerned about.
Cultural changes
All the evidence shows flex is good for business and delivers benefits across recruitment, retention, staff wellbeing and reduced sickness and absence to name just a few. But it requires a working culture that values work life harmony, and that’s generally not something you can legislate to create.
That’s why we were pleased to hear Keir Starmer say he doesn’t work Friday evenings so he can spend time with his family. Despite being criticised by some for being ‘off duty’ (let’s be honest, he’s clearly still ‘on duty’ if there’s an emergency) he demonstrated what he considers acceptable in balancing work and family life. It was a strong message that balance is ok, and even encouraged.
So while we’d like to see a bit more detailed support from Westminster (and Holyrood) to help employers create more flex, and to advertise the flex they have in job adverts, the narrative coming from Labour is promising.
Changes for workers
Aside from flexible working, there were other more tangible improvements for workers in the King’s speech, most notably a real living wage, an end to exploitative zero hour contracts, a ‘day one’ right to sick pay and parental leave and a ban on employers dismissing women within six months of returning to work after having a baby. We firmly believe that if you treat your staff well, the work will take care of itself, so we wholeheartedly support these measures. And we will be keeping tabs on the review of childcare provision, and consideration of paid carers leave too.
