Flexible working

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    Flexible working’ can refer to working patterns or hours, including part time, flexi-time, term time, compressed hours and adjusting start and finish times, as well as location; for example, working from home.

    Your rights

    Flexible working regulations

    The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 are laws that start from 6 April 2024. Changes include:

    Most employees have the right to request flexible working hours

    Employers have to respond to a flexible working request within two months

    Employees will be able to make two flexible working requests within a 12-month period

    Employees don’t have to explain what effect their request will have on the employer or how the impact might be dealt with, as part of their request.

    Carers Leave

    Under the Carers leave act 2023 employees have a right to a week’s unpaid leave to support a person who relies on their care (known as a ‘dependent’).

    • carers leave is flexible and you don’t have to take it all in one go. You must take a minimum of half a working day at a time.
    • you are required to give notice to your employer, your notice doesn’t have to be in writing.
    • notice must be twice the length of time off being asked for or three days in advance – whichever is the longest notice time.
    • your carers leave cant be denied but it can be delayed if your employer’s business will be ‘unduly disrupted’.
    • if your employer delays your leave they must explain this this to you with reasons in writing within 7 days.
    • You must be allowed to take your leave no more than a month after it has been delayed.

    Staying at work

    More people are staying in work past the age at which they might previously have retired, either because they simply enjoy working or because they need to work for financial reasons. If you decide to stay in your current employment, you may want to consider making some changes to your current arrangements, such as reducing your working hours, flexible working arrangements, or a different role.

    It’s important to balance your work and home life. The right to ask for flexible working is there to help employers and workers to agree on work patterns that suit everyone.

    Common types of flexible working are:

    • Part-time – working less than the normal hours, perhaps by working fewer days per week
    • Flexi-time – choosing when to work (there’s usually a core period during which you have to work)
    • Annualised hours – your hours are worked out over a year (often set shifts with you deciding when to work the other hours)
    • Compressed hours – working your agreed hours over fewer days
    • Staggered hours – different starting, break and finishing times for employees in the same workplace
    • Job-sharing – sharing a job designed for one person with someone else
    • Home working – working from home

    You can combine any of these working patterns to come up with something to suit your circumstances.

    Anyone can ask their employer for flexible work arrangements and your employer must seriously consider any application you make. However they don’t have to agree to it if there’s a good business reason not to. You have the right to ask for flexible working; not the right to have it.

    Working part-time after you retire

    Reaching State Pension age doesn’t mean that you have to give up work, either on a paid or a voluntary basis. You can choose to keep on working while taking your State Pension entitlement, or you can delay your claim and get paid more later on.

    If you are already getting the State Pension, you can cancel your claim if you get the chance to do some work that would pay enough for your needs. Your State Pension will stop until you choose to claim it again. Then, depending on how long you stopped claiming, you can take either the lump sum or extra State Pension.

    You should note that you can only cancel once. When your State Pension restarts you won’t be able to cancel it again.

    Also, bear in mind that any money you earn after State Pension age may affect your income-related benefits, such as Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

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    Last updated: April 15, 2024