A recent survey by ACAS has found that 43% of employers and 70% of employees were unaware of the changes to the statutory flexible working regime.

The changes will come into effect on 6 April 2024, among other statutory changes. Further to our previous updates, we have set out a summary below:

• Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 and Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023:

o   Making it a day one right to request flexible working, the ability to make 2 requests a year and decreasing the time frame to deal with such requests among other changes. 

• The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Act 2023:

o   Extends the existing statutory protection from redundancy that currently applies to employees on maternity leave, adoption leave or shared parental leave. The extension means that the protection will also apply to pregnant women and to new parents who have recently returned from any period of maternity or adoption leave, or from a period of six or more weeks of shared parental leave.

• Carer’s Leave Act 2023:

o   Introduces a new statutory right to one week of unpaid carer’s leave a year for employees in England, Wales and Scotland.

If you are up to date on the above changes, make sure your policies are too. We can assist in providing templates that are legally compliant and ready to roll out.

For further information on these changes and what they entail, or if you require any training or updated policies, feel free to contact a member of the Employment Team.