A law giving temporary and agency workers the right to request more predictable hours has received Royal Assent.
The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023 passed through the House of Lords yesterday (18 September). When enacted, it will give people in atypical work, such as zero-hours or temporary contracts, the right to request a more predictable working pattern.
Labour peer Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent said the Act will give workers additional predictability and security in their hours and income at a time when many are struggling with the rising cost of living.
Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023
‘Good work agreements’ needed to tackle low pay and poor conditions
She said: “Workers will be better able to secure employment that suits their individual circumstances, helping them to feel more satisfied at work.
“Workers will be empowered and encouraged to talk to their employers about their working patterns, safe in the knowledge that starting this conversation will not result in any detriment.”
The right will function in a similar way to the right to request flexible working which received Royal Assent in July.
Employers will be able to refuse a request based on one of six statutory grounds: additional cost, ability to meet customer demand, impact on recruitment, impact on other areas of the business, insufficiency of work during the proposed periods, and planned structural changes.
Kate Palmer, HR advice and consultancy director at Peninsula, said the law introduces a brand-new right, but “does appear to contradict recent calls for employees to have more flexibility in how they work”.
“The procedure for dealing with a request for a predictable working pattern is on a par with flexible working requests. But there is one big difference as such requests for a predictable working pattern must be dealt with by the employer within one month,” she said.
“Arguably, the biggest impact of this new right will be on employers who have zero-hours workers and so it will hit some employers more than others.”
Christopher Hitchins, London managing partner and employment lawyer at Katten UK, said: “This change in the law is another tinkering to address the new types of working patterns that are associated with the ‘gig economy’, to try to give workers a bit more certainty over their hours of work and income.
“These developments in the new law are an iterative process, for example starting with the ban on exclusivity clauses for zero hours workers a few years’ back. This new law is another ‘right to request’ – like the right to request flexible working from day one, which is due to come in some time in 2024 – which can be turned down by an employer with appropriate reasoning, not an outright right.”
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