Employees can ask for flexible working from day one

Employees will be given the right to ask for flexible working from their first day at a new job, the government has proposed.

New legislation will mean that workers will not have to wait for 26 weeks to seek flexible arrangements, as set out under the current law.

The government also wants to introduce laws that make it easier for people on low incomes to get a second job.

Flexible working has continued after the UK emerged from Covid lockdowns.

The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said that if an employer can not accommodate a request to work flexibly, it would have to discuss "alternative options" before rejecting it.

It said that flexible working did not just mean working from home but also included job-sharing, flexitime or staggered hours.

Peter Cheese, chief executive of the CIPD, which represents the human resources industry, said: "This new right will help normalise conversations about flexibility at the start of the employment relationship, with significant benefits for employees in terms of wellbeing and work-life balance."

The government also said it planned to remove "exclusivity clause restrictions" for workers on contracts who are paid £123 or less a week. It will allow people to work for multiple employers and take on second jobs.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said that flexible working kept "mums in work" and helped close the gender pay gap.

"But we'd like the government to go much further to ensure that flexible work now becomes the norm," said Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC.

"Ministers must change the law so that every job advert makes clear what kind of flexible working is available in that role. And they should give workers the legal right to work flexibly from their first day in a job - not just the right to ask," she said.