Bosses made to justify why staff shouldn’t work from home
Bosses will have to host a meeting with staff who ask for flexible working and lay out their rationale for refusing, under a new policy outlined by Louise Haigh. The cabinet office minister told a union gathering that business leaders would have to “properly consider” flexibility requests from staff and grant an in-person meeting to [...]
The cabinet minister Louise Haigh has proposed a new policy requiring bosses to hold a meeting with employees who request flexible working arrangements and explain their reasons for denying the request. Haigh addressed union delegates at the TUC conference, stating that life is often unpredictable, and employees face various responsibilities such as childcare and family care.
She announced that the government will strengthen the right to flexible working. This policy is the second intervention on remote work since the government took power in 2024. Earlier this year, the government also included measures to strengthen flexible working rights in the far-reaching Employment Rights Act. The act also addressed issues like banning exploitative zero-hour contracts and ending so-called "fire and rehire."
Haigh praised unions for their relentless campaigning to achieve these changes, which she said have significantly improved workers' rights in a generation. However, shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith criticized the measures as a "shirkers' charter," accusing Labour of overburdening businesses with red tape. He argued that the government's previous "unemployment act" has already stifled business opportunities, and Haigh and Angela Rayner are now pushing for more.
In the public sector, Griffith warned that the new measures could lead to an increase in staff leaving their jobs.
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