Company bosses will have to sit down with workers who request flexible working and justify their reasons for any refusals under new rights announced by Louise Haigh on Tuesday.
The first secretary of state told the TUC conference that employers would have to “properly consider” requests for flexibility and offer a face-to-face meeting under new rights for workers.
Speaking to trade union representatives in Brighton, she said: “Life isn’t always as neat as we’d like it to be or as employers would like it to be. There’s kids to pick up, parents to look after, families who rely on us at short notice.
“And sometimes a little bit of flexibility can make all the difference. Now I know that businesses have to make things work too. Not every job can be done from home and not every request can be agreed.
“But every request can be taken seriously. So today I can announce that we will strengthen the right to flexible working. If an employer wants to turn down a request they will have to sit down with their employee, properly consider it and explain why.”
Under current rules all employees have a legal right to request flexible working which employers must consider in a “reasonable manner”, but the new rules would entail bosses sitting down with employees and explaining the reason behind their decision.
Haigh also praised unions for their work campaigning for the Employment Rights Act, which introduced significant new rights for workers on sick pay, parental leave and zero-hours contracts.
She said: “Because of you, working people have had the biggest uplift in their rights in a generation. Changes that won’t just transform lives today … but the lives of our children and our grandchildren.”
In a speech that was pointedly warm towards unions, some of whom were openly critical of the former prime minister Keir Starmer, she said that Andy Burnham understood that “the strength of our movement is drawn from our roots in the trade unions”.
She added: “We need to go further and faster to deliver the scale of change the country expect. But never be in any doubt whose side we are on. Whether it was standing up for workers illegally sacked by P&O Ferries … Or changing public procurement to create more good jobs here in Britain. We are proudly on the side of working people.”
