Acas has consulted on an updated statutory Code of Practice on handling requests for flexible working. This consultation was in anticipation of the changes to the statutory flexible working request regime being introduced under the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill (see Advisory Bulletin 708), which received Royal Assent on 20 July 2023 and so is now an Act. The proposed changes to the Code are also being made to reflect the changing practices and views on flexible working since the last Code was published in 2014, and the revised Code also takes into account that separate legislation will be introduced to make the right to request flexible working a ‘day one’ right.
After seeking views from local authorities the LGA responded to the consultation. On the whole local authorities told us that they broadly supported the draft Code and a copy of our response which reflects those views can be obtained by contacting [email protected]
In July 2023 the Government announced that the flexible working changes are expected to come into force in approximately a year’s time, and we now await Acas’s response to the consultation.