Businesses will need time to prepare should Labour implement ambitious flexible working plans
Businesses will need time to prepare should Labour implement ambitious plans to give workers stronger rights to request a four-day working week, according to a leading Midlands law firm.
Adam Morris, employment solicitor at Wright Hassall, says that while further changes to flexible working would likely frustrate employers, it could actually pave the way for a move towards a true four-day working week.
While Labour appears to have ambitious plans to change the working practices within the UK with a move to make it easier for employees to ask for a four-day working week, we do not yet have the detail on how this will be introduced. Employers are therefore left in the dark as to how to begin to prepare for what would be a big shift in how they must manage their workforce.
Based on the Labour Party’s “Plan to Make Work Pay”, it appears that legislation surrounding flexible working may be further strengthened to make it easier for employees to make flexible working requests.
The right to request flexible working is not a new concept for employers and has been a statutory right for some time. Therefore, employees already have the right to put in a request for compressed working, whereby they work their usual contractual hours over a shorter space of time - usually working longer hours over fewer days. This means that some employers will already have workers on a four-day working week pattern.
While it is not clear exactly what changes Labour will make to flexible working, it seems that the party plans to tighten up the reasons for refusing a request so that they may only be refused “where it is not reasonably feasible”. This could leave employers facing an influx of requests which they may potentially have to agree to.
Further changes to flexible working will likely frustrate employers who have already had to amend their policies and procedures earlier this year to implement changes brought about under the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 which came into force on April 6, 2024.
The effect of these changes already put a greater burden on employers by increasing the number of requests an employee can make a year, as well as making it a right to request flexible working from day one. It is therefore clear that businesses need adequate time to plan and prepare for any further changes.
At this stage, there is no proposal for what some refer to as the true four-day working week - whereby employees work 80 per cent of full-time hours for 100 per cent pay. However, given Labour’s agenda on employment law, this is something for employers to keep an eye out for.
Should it be introduced, this would likely cause issues for employers who will need to establish how they will deal with the pay for part-time workers who already work four days a week for 80 per cent of a full-time salary. Increasing the pay for these workers to 100 per cent pay clearly has significant financial implications for employers.
While not currently on the agenda, Labour’s focus on “making work pay” could potentially signal even more changes in the future.
