A YouGov survey undertaken at the end of last year found that two thirds (66%) of Brits preferred to start work earlier than the ‘traditional’ 9am-5pm hours. When asked if employees were given a preference on the start and end times of their 8-hour shift, only 14% chose the 9am-5pm shift compared to 25% who chose the 8am-4pm shift.
This may be due to the huge influx of employees preferring flexible working arrangements to fit around their lifestyle. CIPD chief executive and co-chair of the government’s Flexible Working Task Force, Peter Cheese, said the findings indicate employers may need to be receptive to employees’ needs and avoid a narrow view of what a working day looks like. “Flexible working is a growing preference for lots of people and provides opportunities to work for many who have other commitments or constraints that make it hard for them to work traditional working patterns.”
He added that employee’s who were given access to flexible working arrangements were more likely to be committed and satisfied with their organisation.
In 2014, the statutory right to request flexible working was extended to all employees with over 12 months service rather than just to parents and carers. The statutory right though is only to request flexible working rather than a right of employees to have their request granted. There are a number of grounds on which an employer can reasonably refuse a flexible working request, once the statutory procedure has been followed, but as well as considering the potential benefits to employee retention of granting requests, employers will also need to be mindful of possible discrimination claims which could arise if a refusal were considered to disadvantage someone having one of the protected characteristics, eg sex, disability.