News Round-up - January 2023

What seems flavour of the month is flexible working. Organisations have quite different concepts on flexible working, from hybrid working, to enforced 4-day weeks, to real flexibility.

We are really interested to find out the impact, once it is enforceable, of the Government’s decision to make requests for flexible working available from Day 1 of employment. We would love to hear your experiences, hopes and fears.

In summary, this is what the UK Government has committed to:

• Removing the 26-week qualifying period before employees can request flexible working, making it a day-one right.
• Requirement of employers to consult with their employees, as a means of exploring the available options, before rejecting a flexible working request.
• Allowing employees to make two flexible working requests in any 12-month period.
• Requirement of employers to respond to requests within two months, down from three.
• Removing the requirement for employees to set out how the effects of their flexible working request might be dealt with by their employer.

Subject: Flexibility

Headline - Remote jobs fall 6% since October - After nearly three years of pandemic-adjusted working patterns, Brits are being called back to the office across sectors like Creative & Design and IT, according to new research.
Remote jobs fall 6% since October - HRreview

Headline - Making hybrid working inclusive - "In some cases, hybrid structures can cause larger gaps in diversity, equity and inclusion across an organisation." What should be done about this?

Karl Breeze: Making hybrid working inclusive - HRreview

Headline - Two thirds of parents would take a pay cut to be able to work more flexibly

Despite the impending introduction of the flexible working bill, experts say things are ‘unlikely to change overnight’.

Two thirds of parents would take a pay cut to be able to work more flexibly (peoplemanagement.co.uk)

Headline - Work from home husbands slack off on chores when wives are there too

Work from home husbands slack off on chores when wives are there too (msn.com)

Subject: Develop a gender-balanced culture

Headline – Survey reveals that job adverts for HR are most likely to be feminine coded, alongside teaching and admin

Overwhelming majority of job adverts at top UK firms use gender-biased language, research finds (peoplemanagement.co.uk)

Headline – It’s time for organizations to walk the walk when it comes to DE&I initiatives while many organisations are talking the talk, only a fraction are actually walking the walk

It’s time for organizations to walk the walk when it comes to DE&I initiatives - HRreview

Headline - Gen Z isn't ashamed of 'job-hopping' and will even quit unfulfilling jobs without a backup plan, study finds. Organisations may think they define the culture, but as Stan Slap argues, really it’s the employees. In this case a whole generation of them!

Gen Z isn't ashamed of 'job-hopping' and will even quit unfulfilling jobs without a backup plan, study finds (yahoo.com)

Subject: Gender Pay Gap

Headline - Asda reduces gender pay gap - Asda has published its gender pay figures for 2022 which show a year-on-year reduction in both its mean and median pay gaps. What have they done to achieve this?

Asda reduces gender pay gap - HRreview