UK Labour Secretary says flexible working arrangements will boost productivity

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The British government plans to compress the five-day workweek into four longer days to boost the productivity of British workers, a minister has revealed.

The Education Secretary, Baroness Jackie Smith, said Labor's proposals to strengthen flexible working rights, including a compressed four-day week, would get more people back into work.

She told LBC on Friday: “We think flexible working is actually good for productivity. We've heard of cases where employees have gone from working eight hours a day, Monday to Friday, to working 10 hours four days a week.

She said more people could be encouraged to go to work, even if they still do the same amount of work, by doing things that reduce the need for child care, allow more time for family and allow for other things.

Labour has pledged ahead of the election to further develop laws allowing employees to request flexible working conditions and requiring bosses to consider such requests but not force them to approve them.

Labour has put forward proposals to make flexible working patterns the default under its workers' rights package finalised in May, with the onus on employers to justify refusals where it is not reasonably practicable.

The party said it wanted to help workers benefit from the opportunity for flexible working hours and contracts that better fit with school terms where flexible working hours are not currently available, and that it wanted to make flexible working the default for all workers from day one, except where it is reasonably practicable.

This changes the existing right to request flexible working conditions that has been in place since the beginning of this year, scrapping the existing 26-week entitlement period which made it difficult for parents with young children, for example, to change jobs.

Flexible working can include a variety of arrangements, including compressed working hours, job sharing, and semester work. These are currently relatively rare despite high demand from employees, with part-time working hours, flexible start and end times, and the ability to choose or change shifts being more common.

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Despite these strengthened basic rights, campaigners say employers can too easily reject flexible working requests based on business necessity.

But business groups worry that the government will narrow the range of reasons it can give when denying a request and shift the burden of proof onto employers.

Ben Wilmot, policy director at the CIPD, the body for HR professionals, said the government had to walk a fine line to ensure flexible working arrangements worked for both organisations and employees.

But he also acknowledged that employers are often reluctant to take some risks when it comes to allowing flexibility like job sharing, which can help them retain and recruit senior staff.

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He also said that as hybrid working arrangements become more widespread, it has become important to expand flexible working hours for those working in the field.

Despite some employers complaining that flexible work arrangements reduce productivity, economists say there is no clear evidence that flexible work arrangements have a significant overall positive or negative impact, although the impact will likely vary widely across companies.

Policymakers see expanding flexible work arrangements as important for promoting workforce participation, especially for older workers, people with disabilities and parents of young children.

The Conservatives argued that Labour's approach would make it more expensive for business in Britain.

On Friday, former cabinet minister Priti Patel, who is seeking to become the Conservative leader, accused Labour of imposing more burdens, bureaucracy, red tape and regulation on businesses, warning it would have a devastating impact on businesses and the wider economy.

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Officials insisted the government, which promised to release details of its approach within its first 100 days in office, would not force employers or employees to adopt a four-day workweek.

They also cited a 2023 survey by the Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD), which found that 38% of organizations had seen productivity or efficiency increase as a result of working from home or hybrid working, but only 13% said those outcomes had worsened.

Some campaigners are urging the government to go further. Joe Lyle, director of the Four-Day Workweek Campaign, which wants workers to lose a day and still get paid in full, said: “Compressing the same workday into four days rather than five would be an important first step on the road to a true four-day workweek, but reducing the total number of hours worked is crucial.

A Commerce Department spokesperson said any changes to employment laws would be determined through consultation, adding: “Our Make Work Pay plan is designed to increase productivity and create the right environment for businesses to support sustainable economic growth.”

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