Ministers are looking to tighten rules around mandatory in-person work to force bosses to let more employees work remotely, potentially impacting thousands of businesses
Being able to work from home is one of the top reasons why bosses stay in their jobs, research suggests. It comes as Andy Burnham wants to stop employers from forcing workers to come into the office as part of plans to make remote working easier.
The Government is looking to tighten rules on mandatory in-person work. And the recent study found flexible working hours are ‘more important than pay’ for top managers after Andy Burnham’s administration announced new plans to make it harder for employers to prevent staff from working from home.
Minister Louise Haigh announced the new policy on Wednesday (September 16) which will require bosses to have meetings with staff who ask for the arrangements and lay out any compelling rationale for refusing. Addressing the annual Trade Unions Congress (TUC) in Brighton, the Labour MP said businesses would need to demonstrate they had “properly” weighed up a worker’s request before turning it down.
She said: “That is what putting power back into the hands of working people looks like,” she said, adding that “life isn’t always as neat as employers would like it to be”.
Flexible working arrangements were found to be one of the main reasons why managers stay in their jobs, according to research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).
CMI found that two in five managers surveyed said flexible working was one of the main reasons they have decided to stay with their current employer.
Arrangements including remote and hybrid working were found to be more important than competitive pay, job security or interesting work.
Ms Haigh added that while “not every job can be done from home and not every request can be agreed”, each request “can be taken seriously”.
She said: “There’s kids to pick up. Parents to look after. Families who rely on us at short notice. And sometimes, a little bit of flexibility can make all the difference.”
Paul Nowak, the general secretary of the TUC, said flexible working was not “just a perk – it’s a lifeline”. He added: “That’s why this move is a welcome step forward. It makes it harder for employers to turn down requests while giving workers a stronger voice in the process.”
At the beginning of the year, ministers also included measures to bolster flexible working arrangements as part of the Employments Rights Bill.