ACAS Produces Updated Guidance On Handling Requests For A Predictable Working Pattern

ACAS has launched a consultation on its draft statutory Code of Practice entitled 'Handling Requests for a Predictable Working Pattern'.

The Code will sit alongside the new Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act, expected to come into force in September 2024. The Act will give workers and agency workers whose current terms lack "predictability", the right to request more predictable terms and conditions of work.

The consultation follows in the wake of growing concerns surrounding both the impact on well-being and the financial viability of unpredictable working patterns, often associated with zero-hour contracts.

The draft code

The draft Code states if a worker's existing working patterns lack predictability in terms of the hours they work, the times that they are expected to work or the length or duration of their contract, a worker may issue a request to make this pattern more predictable. Once workers have made a request to their employer, their