How Should We Deal With Flexible Working Requests To Work Remotely?

Key considerations for employers dealing with requests to work differently in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

At the time of writing, the UK has seen a recent steep increase in Covid-19 infections and projections of increased hospital admissions and deaths do not make comforting reading. As a consequence, the Government has now changed tack and reverted to its previous message that those who can work from home, should work from home.

One longer term impact of the pandemic is very likely to be increased employee expectation that they will be able to work flexibly, including working from home or from other locations. A survey of employees undertaken by work-life balance charity Working Families in June this year found that 90% of employees wanted their employers to continue flexible working practices following the pandemic.