Hybrid Working - Here to Stay
Posted on: 16/05/2023
Category: For you, For your business
The pandemic has resulted in many more people working from home compared to what the position was prior to it when only 2% of workers were working mostly from home and 18% had some form of home working arrangement.
All employees with 26 weeks of continuous service can apply for flexible working which can incorporate a request to work some or all of their time at home and is not just limited to a request to change working hours.
The Government had a manifesto commitment to make flexible working the default position but this looks unlikely especially taking into account its stated wish to get more civil servants back into the workplace. A consultation was launched by the Government in September 2021 and whilst that has now ended, we are waiting to hear further. Of the five proposals made in the consultation, removing the need to have 26 weeks’ service before having the right to make a flexible working request looks the most likely change to make it onto the statute book.
An employer that receives a flexible working request therefore will still have to justify a refusal based on one of the eight grounds provided for in the Employment Rights Act 1996. An employer does not currently need to consider an alternative proposal to the request made and an employee can only make a request for flexible working once every twelve months. The employer has three months to consider it and make a decision. Whilst there is no obligation to do so, an employer sometimes agrees a trial period for a new arrangement because if they do not and a change is agreed, it becomes a permanent change to the terms and conditions of employment.
For employers, it is best to put in place a hybrid working policy so both the employer and the employee knows where they stand. There is no doubt that hybrid working is here to stay.


Guy Salter
If you have any questions or queries, please contact Guy Salter on +44 1905 723561 or by email at Guy.Salter@smesolicitors.co.uk.