Flexible Working Act 2023
Employee Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 – Key changes
Anyone employed directly by the NHS has enhanced rights to flexible working, as negotiated by the health unions. From April 2024, other UK employees will also benefit from some additional rights, as set out below:
- Employees can now make two formal flexible working requests within a 12-month period (currently, people can only submit one request within a 12 month period).
- Employees no longer have to set out how they think their flexible working request will impact the employer or how they think it could be accommodated.
- Managers will need to respond to a flexible working request (with a decision) within two months rather than three. This timescale can be extended by mutual agreement – for example if a request has gone to an ‘escalation stage’ so that wider options can be looked at.
- Managers will need to consult with the individual directly, to explain why they are declining a flexible working request.