SUB-COMMITTEES
Consultation on day one right to work flexibly T
he Government’s plan to make the right to work flexibly the “default” position is a step closer. The Government says that the pandemic has demonstrated how businesses can successfully adapt their operational practices and that working flexibly is the future for employers and employees. It has launched a consultation on its proposal which is due to end in December 2021. At the height of the first lockdown in April last year, 47% of the UK workforce was working from home. This compares with 11% in 2018. According to an Institute Of Directors’ survey, 74% of company directors stated their organisation intended to increase homeworking (from pre-pandemic levels) as part of their approach to returning to work and 43% intended to increase flexible working more widely, through measures such as flexitime, staggered hours and compressed hours.
Currently employees must have worked six months to make a formal flexible working request under the legislation. Employers can reject the request on a number of prescribed grounds, including that it would have a negative impact on service and operations. However, employees can still make an informal flexible working request from day one of their employment. A refusal could give rise to sex and or disability discrimination claims. ■
Phillip Henson
Partner and Head of Employment EBL Miller Rosenfalck
The Law Reform committee will be meeting in November with a view of finalising a response to the Government’s proposal for Flexible Working before it closes on 1 December 2021. Please do contact Phillip Henson (EBL Miller Rosenfalck) and the Law Reform committee should you have any questions.
Report from WHLS International Committee
A
s Sara Chandler reported in the August edition of Central London Lawyer, the International Committee has remained busy online during the pandemic period, despite being landlocked, and has continued to maintain and develop its relationships with European counterparts. The pandemic is not yet over but it is hoped that, as things start to open up, planned visits to Cluj (Romania) and Palermo (Sicily, Italy) will become a reality.
On 28 September Sara Chandler participated as a Judge in the Prix Ludovic Trarieux, an international human rights prize. The winner was Freshta Karimi, a female lawyer in Afghanistan who has worked tirelessly for the rights of women and girls and who set up a legal aid NGO for people seeking justice. Last year’s winner was Ebru Timtik (see p11 – Hunger Strike for a fair trial – in Central London Lawyer August 2021) and her sister attended the Congress to receive the award for her sister.
The Committee had an active two months in September and October.
The FBE meeting took place at the Paris Bar’s magnificent Maison du Barreau on the Ile de la Cité. It is hoped that WHLS will be signing a memorandum of understanding with the Paris Bar during their Rentrée at the end of November.
The main event in September was the FBE Autumn Conference in Paris from 26 to 28 September, attended by Coral Hill, Sara Chandler and Jeffrey Forrest. There was a packed agenda on Access to Law and Justice, with speakers from many European jurisdictions, with updates on the latest situations in their countries. A highlight of the Congress was an evening gala dinner cruise along the Seine, where the diners could admire Paris by night with extraordinarily attractive lights on the bridges, the buildings and the Eiffel Tower. At the General Assembly on the last day, delegates heard reports from the Commissions, and from Tomasz Cyrol – Member of the Foreign Commission of the Polish Bar Council on the situation in Poland. Resolutions were passed on Belarus, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Colombia and on refugees trapped on the border between Belarus and Poland. The General Assembly welcomed guest Bars from Tunisia and Mexico (represented by their President, Claudia de Buen Unna), as well as delegates from OHADA, the Organisation for the Harmonisation of African Business Law (of which 16 African states are participants). 12 | CENTRAL LONDON LAWYER
Next year’s FBE General Congress is planned to be held in Sofia (Bulgaria) from 23 to 25 June, preceded by its Mediterranean Bars Meeting, planned to be held in Girona (Spain) from 24 to 26 March. All members are invited to join the International Committee and to participate in the FBE’s activities. The Committee met with the Cologne Bar on 12 October to discuss building a relationship to the benefit of our clients, and further meetings are planned with a view to signing a memorandum of understanding with the Bar. The Committee is indebted to Olivia Longrigg of Dawson Cornwell who liaised with the Bar Association. We met with Dr. Guido Plassmeier, member of the Council and member of the International Committee of the Cologne Bar and Karina Noeker of the Cologne Bar delegation to the FBE. German speaking members are particularly welcome to join the Committee. ■
