Flexible working: how nurses will benefit from change in law
Posted 13 March 2024 - 12:15
The flexible working request changes that will come into force in April in England, Scotland and Wales, and what they will mean for staff, managers and employers
Nurses working in the NHS and elsewhere in Great Britain will soon have a statutory right to make two flexible working requests a year, when new employment legislation comes into force on 6 April.
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 will also give employees in England, Scotland and Wales the right to make a flexible working application from day one on the job.
Law will bring faster decisions and less red tape
The new law means that flexible working requests must be dealt with more swiftly, and employees will no longer have to explain how it might affect the business or employer.
Previously, changes to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook implemented in September 2021 meant that NHS staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland could request flexible working from day one – now all employees in Great Britain will have the legal right to do so from 6 April.
Change to law will ensure ‘better work-life balance’
NHS Employers assistant director of development and employment Jennifer Gardner said flexible working was ‘absolutely critical’ for the future of the health service.
‘Ensuring flexible working gives people across the NHS more choice about their working pattern, enabling them to achieve a better work-life balance and helping to ensure the NHS is an employer of choice,’ she said. ‘In a context of more than 100,000 vacancies across the NHS, retention is critical and improving staff experience is the cornerstone of these efforts for employers.
‘The NHS handbook was updated in September 2021 to allow for the day one right to request flexible working. The NHS was leading the way, ahead of the statutory requirements, and setting a new standard. To see the national legislation catch up is welcome.’
While the new legislation does not extend to Northern Ireland, the country will comply with the additional changes through the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook.
Changes to the law on flexible working
- Employees can make two flexible working requests every 12 months, instead of one
- The amount of time employers have to respond to flexible working requests has been reduced from three months to two
- Employers will be required to consult with the employee before rejecting a flexible working request
- Removal of the requirement for employees to explain what effect, if any, their flexible working request would have on the organisation
How to make a formal flexible working request
National flexible working people policy framework
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