Psst! You may not be aware of it, but this coming year, the UK Government is tinkering aplenty with various employment rights. This means that updates to your HR policies will probably be required along the way. The first matter to grab people’s attention looks like changes to statutory flexible working request rules, due on 6^th April 2024. Unsure what changes are on the way? Don’t worry, this blog will take you through what you need to know.

What the request process looks like

The basic structure of the statutory flexible working request process won’t be changing (phew!), so here’s a reminder of what it looks like:

1. The employee submits a written request to change their hours or work location.
2. The employer acknowledges this request, considers it and arranges a meeting to discuss it with the employee.
3. The employer decides to either grant the request or to reject it.
4. If the request has been rejected, organisations normally offer a right of appeal.
5. Any changes in working hours, patterns or location that arise as a result of the request become a permanent part of the employee’s terms and conditions. They should be confirmed in writing.

If the employer refuses the request, this must be for one or more of the legally sanctioned grounds for refusal. These include an inability to reorganise work in line with what the employee wants, or a negative impact on the organisation’s ability to meet customer needs. What you CAN’T do is reject a flexible working request because you don’t like that particular employee, because it’ll make one of their colleagues jealous, or because you’re worried that other people might hypothetically submit similar requests in future.

Sometimes the employer and employee will agree to set up a trial period to see how the proposed arrangements work out. Strictly speaking, there’s no mention of trial periods in the legislation, but if everyone involved is happy with it, they can be very helpful for testing options.

So that’s how the basic process works. Now, what are the changes that have been proposed?

Change no 1. Employees can submit a request from day one

Currently, someone must have worked for you for at least 26 weeks before they can use the above statutory procedure (not counting requests made on the grounds of reasonable adjustment for disability). From April this year, all employees will be able to submit statutory flexible working requests from the day they start at work.

Eek! Does this mean that successful candidates at recruitment can insist on working part-time even if the job was advertised as full-time? Don’t panic. The right to have a request considered doesn’t kick in until they’ve started work (though you may as well discuss it before they start – why not?) and practices still have the right, if needed, to reject requests based on the grounds mentioned previously.

This can also be looked at positively. We know that recruitment is difficult and that there are plenty of good candidates out there who need a bit of flexibility in their working hours. Perhaps this is an opportunity to tap into that market more? Part-time, job-sharing or hybrid workers can be extremely productive.

Change no. 2. Employees can make up to two requests per year

Currently, an employee has the right to only one statutory flexible working request per year. From April, this will rise to two per year.

In reality, many GP practices already allow employees to make more than one request per year so this change will make little difference to them. For practices that do enforce the one-per-year limit to assist with stability and planning, it may take a little getting used to. Hypothetically, employees could use it, say, to request a change at the start of the summer holidays, and then a further change back to ‘normal’ hours at the end of this period. But this would be a risky strategy for the employee; as has been already mentioned, you’re not obliged to say yes in all circumstances.

Change no. 3. Employers must consult with employees

This one’s a bit of an odd change, as I don’t know of any employer that DOESN’T already consult with employees as part of the request process. As mentioned earlier, a meeting between employer and employee is standard. But if there are any GP practices out there that currently make flexible working decisions without discussing these with the individuals concerned, do better in future!

Change no. 4. No obligation on the employee to suggest workable options

Currently, for a written request for flexible working to be valid under the statutory procedure, it must contain suggestions about how the employer could potentially rearrange workload or recruit, for example, to make the requested pattern workable. From April, this will no longer be obligatory – though employees may still make such suggestions voluntarily during the consultation process.

My initial reaction to change no. 4 was disappointment. Surely, it’s helpful when the employee contributes ideas to the discussion? However, on reflection, I admit that it’s not the employee’s job to make workforce planning suggestions, and it would be quite mean to refuse someone’s request purely on the grounds that they didn’t know what to suggest. My advice to managers, therefore, is to keep asking for suggestions from employees – but don’t insist on it.

Change no. 5. Decisions must be finalised within two months of the initial application

From April onwards, the total period in which an employer must respond to a statutory flexible working request is reducing from three months to two. This includes any appeal time – and if we’re being strict about interpreting the legislation, any trial periods too.

For employers that deal with requests quickly, this change won’t cause much of a problem. Ideally, you receive the request, meet the employee the following week, and the whole

process is concluded within a fortnight. An appeal might take up a further fortnight, but you’ve still got plenty of time. However, if you’ve historically relied upon lengthy trial periods before making a final decision, or don’t generally treat these requests as a priority, watch out. You should keep a closer eye on the clock as it ticks along.

Next steps for Practice Managers

Those are all of the changes. Maybe not as difficult as you feared? I hope not. Now, here are my recommendations for next steps.

Firstly, if you have a Flexible Working Policy, make plans to update it with all the new changes. Practice Index’s template for PLUS members is in the process of being updated and the new version will become available at the start of April.

Next, communicate these changes to your teams.

Finally, be aware that these are not the only employment law updates happening in April 2024. There are also changes to paternity leave processes, redundancy rights, variable-hour and term-time holiday rights, and even a new right to planned carer’s leave for all employees.

Information about all these changes is available to PLUS members in the HR Alerts section, or keep an eye out for this blog as I’ll be writing more in future.

Further handy resources for PLUS members (to be updated at the start of April):

• Flexible working application form
• Flexible working acceptance letter
• Flexible working rejection letter
• Flexible working appeal outcome letter

Separate resources are available for practices in Northern Ireland here.

Susi O’Brien