Ministers are preparing to make flexible working a permanent feature of British life after coronavirus, with plans to strengthen employees’ rights to work from home or ask for different hours.
The government will start a public consultation later this year on how to extend flexible working, potentially ensuring that people who have transitioned to a hybrid of home and office working during the pandemic will be able to maintain that pattern.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is likely to look at ways to strengthen the existing legal right to request flexible working. Under the present rules, employees can formally ask for changes to their working pattern. The employer must deal with the request in a “reasonable manner” and make a decision
