New rights to flexible working after MPs pass Employment Relations Bill
New legislation means employees across the UK will be given more flexibility over where and when they work.
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill has received royal assent - the final step required for a parliamentary bill to become law. The Act means that if an employer can't accommodate a request to work flexibly, they'll have to discuss alternative options before they can reject the request.
Employers will have to consider and discuss any requests made by their employee - who will have the right to two requests a year - within two months of a request.
These measures will be made possible through the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill introduced by Yasmin Qureshi MP.
“Employment without barriers”
Last year, together with the All Party Parliamentary Group for MS, we published a report “Employment without barriers”. This followed an inquiry looking at what extra support people with MS need in the workplace.
People with MS told us flexible working can be a huge help. It can include having later starting times, working condensed hours and working from home, allowing people to better manage their symptoms. While more people have been able to work flexibly since the Covid-19 pandemic, there are some who haven't been able to work in this way, despite wanting to.
Stories from people with MS in Parliament
Speaking in the House of Commons about the Bill last year, Yasmin highlighted the experiences of people with MS:
“The MS Society shared numerous cases of how flexible working has benefited people with MS. I learned about Trishna, who lives with MS and has found that having good, flexible working policies from her employer means that she is able to stay in work longer.
"Flexible working means that she can work from home with flexible hours and can manage her workload around her fatigue. She can start work early and finish early when she needs to, and can bank hours for days when she does not have the energy or strength to work.”
