Time for Change – Leading the Revolution on Flexibility in the Workplace

As we prepare for the final lockdown restrictions to be lifted, businesses are planning ahead to the future but what will their workplaces look like? Will employees be required to return to the workplace fulltime? Will employees be required to return to work 9-to-5 each day? Or will businesses continue to adopt a more flexible approach which many have been forced to adopt over the past 12-18 months?

Many employees have experienced a degree of flexibility, whether in terms of location of work or hours of work. For some, they have thrived both professionally and personally with this renewed sense of freedom and do not want to revert back to traditional working patterns. As such, it is anticipated that, in the absence of more flexible working practices being voluntarily adopted by business, there will be a significant rise in flexible working request applications being made by employees and the demographic of those requests will be wider than the traditional ‘caring responsibilities’ pre-pandemic.

What are the benefits/ risks to your business in adopting a more flexible approach? Are you ready to deal with any flexible working requests? Do you know what your legal responsibilities are? Do you know the process to be followed and the grounds on which a request can be refused? Are you aware of the risks if a request is not granted? Have you fully assessed the possible positive impact on productivity, cost saving and retention and recruitment of staff?

We will be considering all of these issues, and more, across two sessions.

Session 1

The first session, on Thursday 1 July, will consider the ‘nuts and bolts’ and legal implications of changing terms and conditions and dealing with flexible working requests.

We will cover how a flexible working request under the statutory scheme must be dealt with, the time scales in which it must be dealt with, the grounds for refusing a request and the risks associated in not granting a request.

We will also consider how to change an employee’s terms and conditions of employment, whether the need comes from a flexible working request or otherwise.

Finally, we will explore the wider impacts of any operational or contractual changes and the likely need to review and, where necessary, implement and/or update policies and procedures to ensure flexible working practices are reflected and protection is afforded to the business, clients and staff.

Session 2 

The second session, on 5 August, will consider the practical and commercial implications of adopting flexible working practices within the workplace. It will consider why a business may decide to implement more flexibility within their business, regardless of the legal obligations, and the potential benefits both now and in the future.

 

How to book

Register here > https://afx.one/ed6b98fb

Address

Online