Top 10 HR Questions January 2023: Flexible working requests

relx_copyright – This article is XpertHR.co.uk content (c) LexisNexis Risk Solutions Group

The government has committed to taking forward a number of reforms to the right to request flexible working.

Legislation to make amendments to the statutory right to request flexible working is currently making its way through Parliament, in the form of a Private Members’ Bill with government support.

The changes to be brought in by the Bill include allowing employees to make more than one request in a 12-month period, requiring the employer to consult the employee about their request and reducing the timeframe for making a decision.

The government has also said that it will introduce regulations to make the right to request flexible working a day-one right. This would mean employers would have to take flexible working into account at the recruitment stage, rather than only for existing employees with 26 weeks’ service.

Two FAQs in the top 10 look at the current rules for dealing with requests from existing employees.

The number one question for January looks at sickness absence reporting requirements and asks what an employer should do where an employee does not provide a fit note.

Another question on fit notes asks what happens if the employee wants to return earlier than the end of the period covered by the note.

The top 10 HR questions in January 2023:

1. What should an employer do if an employee is off sick for over a week but has not submitted a fit note?

2. Can an employer use a trial period to test whether a proposed flexible working arrangement would work?

3. Is it lawful to ask a job applicant if they require permission to work in the UK?

4. Can an employer invite an employee to attend a disciplinary hearing when they are on sick leave?

5. Do employees have a statutory right to time off for fertility treatment?

6. If an employee has been signed off work for a particular period, can the employer allow them to return early?

7. How does shared parental leave operate?

8. Can an employer withdraw from a flexible working agreement if the arrangements are no longer in its interests?

9. If an alternative but less well-paid position is offered to a redundant employee, must the employer maintain their current pay?

10. Where an employee is unable to take all their accrued statutory annual leave because they are on maternity leave, must they be allowed to carry it over?

relx_copyright – This article is XpertHR.co.uk content (c) LexisNexis Risk Solutions Group

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