Flexible working arrangements, such as hybrid work, flexitime, and compressed hours, have become increasingly desirable for employees looking to balance work and their personal lives. As of April 6th, 2024, UK employment law has undergone significant updates to empower employees with greater flexibility and control over their work lives.

Pregnant at work? Get answers to your top legal questions—covering time off, health & safety, discrimination and your rights under UK employment law.

Can differing parental pay be discriminatory? Explore the latest ruling on shared parental pay and sex discrimination and what it means for UK employers.

Pregnant and working? We answer the top 3 legal questions about your rights on time off, workplace safety, and protection from unfair treatment.

Returning to work after maybe a year or more out of the workplace on maternity leave can be daunting. That’s why it is particularly important to understand what your legal rights and entitlements are regarding holidays, promotions and pay, prior to heading back to work. The right to return to the same job after maternity leave Perhaps the most important right employees returning to work from maternity leave have is the right to return to their old job. An employer cannot decide to keep on anyone else who was employed to cover the maternity leave in the returning woman’s role – it is her job and she is legally entitled to return to it. The only exception to this position is where this is not reasonably practicable for example, if a restructure has taken place in her absence and the original job no longer exists following her return. However, if this is the case, an employer is obliged to provide a a comparable job which is suitable for her, on the same terms and conditions such as pay and responsibility, as the role that existed prior to taking leave. The right to take accrued holiday While an employee is on maternity leave, she continues to accrue all her contractual holiday entitlement as though she were still working. Because a worker cannot mix different types of leave, someone who took 12 months maternity leave would potentially have a year’s worth of accrued holiday at the end of her leave. Often, an employer will require employees to take all of their accrued annual leave at the end of their maternity leave (or before they go) as this is less disruptive. It can also be more financially beneficial to an employee who has had a period of unpaid of time off. Some employers enforce a rule that all holiday has to be taken in the same working year in which it accrues, with no carry over allowed. However, if it is not possible for a woman to comply with such a rule due to being on maternity leave, then the rule has to be disapplied, meaning she has the right to carry over her holiday entitlement to a subsequent year. Improved terms and conditions for maternity leave An employee who has been absent on maternity leave has the right to enjoy all of the terms and conditions they would have had if they were still working. So, for example, any general pay rise which was implemented while she wasn’t working also has to be applied to her upon her return. It may also be necessary to recalculate any earnings related statutory maternity pay (SMP) to take account of any pay rise granted before the end of period of leave. This means that an employee may be entitled to receive a “top-up” payment from their employer during maternity leave. A woman must also be treated as if she had not been absent from work for the purposes of accruing seniority or entitlement to potential benefits. For example, just because a woman has not been working, does not mean that she is not entitled to a pay increment linked to her years of service which would have applied had she still been at work. Protection against unfair dismissal A woman who is dismissed from work following her return from maternity leave for a reason related to pregnancy, maternity or because she took leave will be automatically count as an unfair dismissal and the offended party will be able to bring a claim against her employer, regardless of length of service. While a woman is on maternity leave, her employer must give her preferential treatment in a redundancy situation. This means that she must be offered suitable alternative positions ahead of anyone else. This protection currently ends once she returns to work after maternity leave. However, any service which accrued while she was off work must be counted by an employer and any maternity related absence cannot be considered for the purposes of a redundancy selection process. Protection against unfavourable treatment Under the Equality Act 2010 , employees are protected against unfavourable treatment as a result of a pregnancy (of hers) and maternity. This includes potential unfavourable treatment because she has taken maternity leave. Whilst there must be a provable link between the treatment and the reason for it, this is potentially a wide protection as there is no need to compare treatment with anyone else (as there is in other direct discrimination cases) and the protection is potentially unlimited in time. For more information on a woman’s employee rights regarding pregnancy and maternity, please see our article debunking common myths surrounding the topic.

Want to change your hours or location? Follow our tips for making a flexible working request, including what to include and how employers must respond.

When going on maternity leave, many expectant mothers will have questions regarding their rights as an employee. With an abundance of myths surrounding maternity entitlements, it’s no surprise that concerns may arise. In the infographic below, we have highlighted the most common assumptions surrounding maternity leave in the UK, in order to distinguish facts from fiction. These include issues relating to eligibility, pay and holidays, as well as what your employer can and cannot ask of you whilst you are off work  For more information about your rights when returning to work, please see our full article on this topic.

Considering flexible working? Discover the pros and cons, your legal rights, and how employers and employees can make flexible arrangements work.

All employees (whether they have children or not) have a legal right to request flexible working, once they have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks. Being able to work flexibly may, at first glance, appear to be the answer to the work/life balance conundrum with no apparent downsides. However, before making a flexible working request, it is important to consider all aspects of what’s involved. This means taking off the rose-tinted spectacles and thinking about what some of the disadvantages may be and how they may affect you. The disadvantages of requesting flexible working An employee’s legal right is only to request flexible working , not to be automatically granted it. If your employer has a good business reason, they can lawfully refuse your request. This can obviously lead to disappointment at best and outright conflict with your employer at worst. If your employer turns you down, you have to wait 12 months before making another application. If you are lucky enough to be granted flexible working this is likely to require changes to your working practices, and these will be permanent – you will not be able to swap and change if you find these are not to your liking in practice (unless you have a very amenable employer!). The impact of these changes will affect you, your employer, your work colleagues and possibly your family and friends. So, what are the possible downsides to think about? Flexible working often means working from home For an employee, working from home may seem ideal. However, it’s sometimes difficult for other family members to respect or even fully understand the fact that although you’re physically at home, you are working and not free to do ‘other stuff’. You won’t be able to meet for a coffee, do housework or run errands for friends any more than if you were in the office! Blurring the home / work balance Hand in hand with the above comes the fact that when you work from home, it can be difficult to maintain a clear delineation between work and home. It’s all too easy to slip into working beyond set hours, with a “I’ll just get this done” mentality meaning you’re working into the evening rather than enjoying all important down time. What’s more, colleagues working different hours, or your employer, may think it’s acceptable to contact you in what is not part of your working day – and you may find it hard to ignore them. Suddenly, that much valued afternoon off is filled up with work matters. Procrastination Working from home requires a high degree of self-motivation. It’s all too easy to procrastinate and avoid getting down to work. With no one looking over your shoulder, before you know it, half the day has gone. This can then lead to additional hours in the evening catching up on missed work hours, when you should be enjoying time with family.  Communication difficulties How easy it is to communicate with your other colleagues (who in turn may be working from home themselves or in the office) will depend on your circumstances and employer. However, technological difficulties shouldn’t be underestimated. You may find it unexpectedly difficult to work with colleagues who are working differently to you or at different times and you may find you have to be highly organised to co-ordinate communications, collaboration, planning and delivery. Flexible working requests can cause employee isolation While working alone from home may mean you can be at your desk by 7am, distraction free and still in your pyjamas if you want to, you also lose out on the energy and creativity of working with others. Missing out on the encouragement, camaraderie and general buzz of working as part of a team can leave you feeling both uninspired and isolated. That in turn can have a knock-on effect on your motivation and even the quality of your work. Studies in the USA have shown that an employee who works at home is at a higher risk of developing depression. Don’t underestimate how much you might miss those birthday cakes or end of the week drinks that make up so much of the social side of work. Reduced benefits Flexible working can take an almost infinite variety of forms. If you are simply changing the times you work, your salary should not be affected but if you are working reduced hours, you will obviously be earning less. As a result, your employer’s pension contributions will also reduce, and any bonus is likely to be pro rated. You will also accrue less paid holiday. Part-time employees are protected against discrimination so that their terms and conditions must not be less favourable than a comparable full-time employee. However, working flexibly may lead to missing out on workplace events such as training which happen when you are not at work. Possible lack of career progression Part-time working is responsible for a significant element of organisations’ gender pay gaps. Women who go part-time tend not to progress so far or fast in their careers (either willingly or unconsciously) and so earn significantly less over their careers than men in full-time roles. Being sidelined It’s a sad fact of life that attitudes to flexible working in some organisations are still less than positive. Anecdotal evidence suggests it is even more frowned on when it is a male employee making a request. While it may manifest itself in subtle ways (thus making it more difficult to take action), an employee who makes a successful application for flexible working may find themselves sidelined from decision making and career progression because (entirely wrongly) their commitment is questioned. Cultural change takes time and is happening slowly. However, with the government firmly behind facilitating flexible working for all, it is to be hoped that more employers will embrace flexibility for staff. Being vulnerable in a downturn Again, anecdotally, flexible working may make employees more vulnerable to redundancy in certain organisations. Clearly, any selection criteria for redundancy must be objective and non-discriminatory so dismissing someone because they worked flexibly would be unfair dismissal as well as, potentially discrimination. Strain on your employer Whatever the advantages to you of flexible working, it’s important not to ignore some of the disadvantages from your employer’s perspective. For some managers, switching to a new way of working and supervision can be difficult as the concept of not being able to see what someone is actually doing may be alien. Employers effectively take a gamble when they grant a flexible working request. For flexible arrangements to work there must be give and take on both sides. If not carefully managed, flexible working can lead to inefficiencies and a drop in quality and communication. The advantages of making a flexible working request If you’re considering making a flexible working request, you’ve probably already thought long and hard about some of the many advantages. Flexi working can help you meet your other commitments such as being there to collect your child from school or dovetailing your working arrangements with your partner to minimise childcare costs. Flexible working boosts productivity It can also contribute to you being more productive, allowing you to work when you’re at your best. If you’re a morning person that might mean getting to your desk super early but allowing you to finish early too. A reduction in overheads Working from home or even in a co-working space can massively reduce commuting time and costs. A reduced commute (perhaps because your flexible arrangements allows you to commute out of peak times and therefore reduces your journey time) can also have a very positive effect, for example by reducing stress and lateness. For your employer, flexible working can mean reduced costs and overheads as less office space and equipment is required and employee travel costs are reduced. Improved employee morale Flexible working arrangements can boost employee well being by reducing stress and strengthen loyalty. A boost to morale helps with levels of absence and can improve productivity. Different working hours and the extended use of technology might even mean your employer can offer extended hours, services or a greater range to clients or customers. Flexible working helps recruitment Recruitment is nearly always a key area for employers so building a reputation as an understanding employer who is flexible and who both trusts and accommodates their employees can enhance an employer’s reputation in the labour market. By making flexible working a success you can assist your employer in strengthening its credentials. Be honest with yourself when making a flexible working request Before making your flexible working request, it’s really important to be honest with yourself about what sort of person you are. How self-motivated and disciplined are you and do you respond well to time spent on your own? You will also need to carefully consider what IT resources you will need to have to ensure your working practices don’t become less efficient. What level of support can your employer offer to get you set up with the right technology and how reliable are its systems? For more information on making a flexible working request, please do not hesitate to get in touch with one of our employment law specialists who will be able to offer expert advice and guidance.