Everyone can have a successful career with new changes to flexible working rights
Mid 2014 the UK government introduced a new legislation that allows all employees the right to request flexible work from their employers. This news would have created great triumph for those who fancied working from home or working within flexibilities. A four day week would offer that extra time to maybe start studying again or taking time off during school drop offs and pickups to ensure the kids reached school safely and was back home on time. In order to receive flexible working rights the employee must make a request and the employer has the right to revert with a yes or no. If the request is rejected then the employer has a legal obligation to provide valid reasoning.
According to a recent report it is estimated that 4.2million people in the UK are currently working from home and this trend depicts a steady growth. Employees are entitled to submit flexibility requests once a year. However not all employers maintain an open policy on this legislation but those who approach this subject positively can often reap huge benefits. These flexibilities usually result in reduced sick leave, increased productivity levels, improved job satisfaction as well as reduced stress levels.
Even within the healthcare sector many employees look for job flexibilities and employers need to act responsibly with their response. An employer can reject the application on the grounds of additional costs, inability to organize work schedules of existing staff, being unable to recruit new staff, negative impacts on quality and performance, having detrimental effect on meeting customer demands and having to make structural changes to the business.
