Greater than 80 % of SME resolution makers anticipate to see constructive outcomes to their workforce from coverage adjustments to versatile working guidelines, a brand new ballot from NatWest Mentor suggests. In April 2024, underneath the earlier Conservative authorities, new versatile working laws was launched throughout England, Scotland and Wales creating vital adjustments to how workers make versatile working requests and the way employers should reply.
Workers can now request versatile working from day certainly one of employment, with two statutory requests allowed yearly. With these adjustments, employers should reply inside two months (beforehand three months), offering written causes for refusal.
Exploring the impression of the laws on small and medium enterprises with 250 workers or much less (SMEs), NatWest Mentor surveyed 500 enterprise decision-makers throughout varied industries. The outcomes reveal each constructive alternatives and ongoing challenges across the impression of the brand new laws.
Among the many predictions cited by SME decision-makers, two in 5 anticipate the adjustments will carry elevated productiveness (38 %), a 3rd imagine it’ll result in increased worker retention (34 %), and nearly one in 4 predict penalties being improved entry to numerous expertise (24 %).
Amid different incentives that improve worker expertise, three in ten SMEs reported to already implementing obligatory lunch breaks for workers (29 %), and one in 5 present entry to wellness apps. Comparable figures even have extra initiatives in place and provide worker help programmes (19 %), supplemented meals (18 %), and free personal healthcare and gymnasium memberships (17 %).
Earlier than the laws got here into drive in April, almost three-quarters (73 %) of companies had already applied versatile working insurance policies to various levels previous to the legislative adjustments. In keeping with the analysis, most workers (63 %) had made a request for versatile working.
Daybreak Smith, Senior Employment Legislation & HR Advisor at NatWest Mentor, commented: “Whereas the adjustments to versatile working laws can carry challenges of implementation, there are potential advantages in supporting companies with expertise recruitment and retention. A well-managed versatile working coverage can increase morale and productiveness, decrease operational prices, and create a recruitment benefit out there. Though not all requests could also be possible, it’s essential that companies are conscious of the authorized necessities and overview the choices to search out options that work for them.”
