Following the announcement of Andy Burnham’s government changing rules when it comes to working from home – employees have looked into their legal rights
Following the decision of Andy Burnham‘s government to better protect people who want to work from home, employees are considering their legal rights when it comes to the method of working. Earlier this week, First Secretary of State Louise Haigh told the annual Trade Union Congress (TUC) that the government would make it tougher for employers to prevent staff from working from home.
The bid will bring ‘power back into the hands of working people’ by making businesses demonstrate they “properly” weigh up a worker’s request to work from home before turning it down.
She said: “That is what putting power back into the hands of working people looks like. Life isn’t always as neat as employers would like it to be. 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.” 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: “If an employer wants to turn down a request, they will have to sit down with their employee, properly consider and explain why.”
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. Improving access to flexible working benefits workers, businesses and the economy – whether it’s through increasing staff productivity or higher retention.”
What are your legal rights as an employee working from home?
The topic has encouraged employees to look into their rights as both home workers, or those who work on site and would like to be considered for a more flexible arrangement.
Under existing UK employment rules, employees have a statutory right to request flexible working from day one on the job. People can make up to two statutory requests in any 12-month period which must be responded to and completed within two months of the request being made.
Having the right to request remote work is not an automatic right to receive it – an employer can reject a request based on 8 statutory business grounds including impact on performance, inability to reorganise work, or customer demand.
According to ACAS, you can also agree flexible working arrangements informally without using the statutory procedure. This includes informally asking for a change, or if a company has a separate process for requests.
People who have a disability can also ask to work from home. By law (Equality Act 2010), employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees.
People asking to work from home because of a disability can do so by making a flexible working request or a reasonable adjustment request.
To find out about home and hybrid working in your organisation, talk to your manager, employer or HR department.