LEGAL
The 4Rs are what many employers are talking about – Remote Working, Recruitment, Retention and, more recently, Redundancies. They are to some extent intertwined though. Pam Loch explains why
THE CHALLENGES OF THE 4Rs The growth in remote working has been accelerated by the pandemic. In 2019, around 5% of the workforce worked mainly from home, with around 30% reporting they occasionally worked from home. By April 2020, this had risen to 46.6% of people working from home in some capacity, and the numbers have continued to rise with the increase in hybrid working. The launch in December 2021 of new guidance on hybrid working from the Flexible Working Taskforce however has reinforced that the way we work now is likely to permanently change.
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WORK FROM HOME
The pandemic, coupled with the ongoing financial crisis, has resulted in more employees than ever embracing the new work-from-home model, as it provides them with more free time, and less travel stress and expense. A recent poll found that 45% of workers are pushing for more remote working amidst the cost-of-living crisis. This preference to work from home has, in some instances, led to tensions with employers who want staff back to the office. Some employers are less willing to adopt this new way of working, and increasing numbers are now questioning productivity and trust around remote workers.
LEGAL OBLIGATIONS
There is no right to work from home unless a person’s contract of employment says otherwise, or an employer is legally obliged to. At present, employees have a right to make a request to work flexibly after 26 weeks of service, and the employer has to consider that request ‘in a reasonable manner’ within three months of receipt of the request. The Flexible Working Regulations 2014 permits one written request every 12 months. If these criteria are met, employers are obliged to give serious consideration to any flexible working requests, such as to work from home, or to change working hours. If an employee asks for flexible working as a reasonable adjustment because they have a disability under the Equality Act 2010, the employer has a duty to agree if it is a reasonable request. What is reasonable takes into account the employer’s circumstances and on a case by case basis, will therefore vary.
