All the situations you can be denied working from home requests as Andy Burnham announces new rules
For those who want to request working from home and make their work-life balance simpler, there are legal rights in place that could unfortunately prevent this from happening.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham last month unveiled new rules on how he wanted to help people with home working, with First Secretary of State Louise Haigh saying she aims to 'strengthen the right to flexible working'.
The plans look to tighten rules around businesses calling for mandatory in-person work, which comes after many workers in the UK shifted to home working during the coronavirus pandemic, with businesses making adjustments for their employees.
For employers requesting that staff now return to full-time office working, there are some rights under the Employment Rights Act 1996.
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These can give employees the opportunity to request flexible working, which can include asking to change where they work, such as from home. Employers will be required to reasonably consider all requests.
However, it's important to note that employees simply asking for flexibility does not mean it will always be approved, and requests can be refused on business grounds.
Of course, there are a number of reasons that requests could be denied, including the inability to redistribute work amongst staff and whether it is believed to cause a detrimental impact on performance.
What reasons would mean a refusal?
According to the Trades Union Congress, these are:
- The burden of additional costs
- Detrimental effect on meeting customer demand
- Unable to reorganise work amongst existing staff
- Inability to recruit extra staff
- Detrimental impact on quality
- Detrimental impact on performance
- Insufficient work during planned periods
- Planned structural changes
Under existing UK employment rules, employees can ask for flexible working arrangements and 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.
The government is bringing forward the reforms, with the changes expected to come into force in 2027. It said it would make it tougher for employers to prevent staff from working from home by making sure businesses are demonstrating they 'properly' weigh up a worker's request to work from home before turning it down.
First Secretary of State Louise Haigh previously told the annual Trade Union Congress (TUC) how she plans to 'strengthen the right to flexible working', adding: “Life isn’t always as neat as we’d like to be, or 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."
She went on: "Now, I know that businesses have to make things work too, not every job can be done from home, and not every request can be agreed. But every request can and should be taken seriously.
“So, today I’m pleased to announce that we will strengthen the right to flexible working. If an employer wants to turn down a request, they will have to sit down with their employee, properly consider it, and explain why.
"That is what putting power back into the hands of working people looks like."
James Holt