Labour party calls for flexible working to become ‘new normal’ after pandemic

To create a better work-life balance, Labour said the right to flexible working for all workers should be defaulted from day one of employment
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Labour is calling for the right to flexible working to be made mandatory in all jobs to ensure that “work fits around people’s lives instead of dictating their lives”.

The idea is to allow people to spend less time commuting and spend more time with their families in future.

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At a glance: 5 key points

- Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said working from home would include “flexible, compressed, staggered or annualised hours” – with employer leniency around school runs and childcare during school holidays

- Kier Starmer has said he wants to make Britain the ‘best place to work’ as “in-work poverty is at a record high – with one in six working families in poverty”

Labour wants new flexible working reforms so parents can work around childcare and family commitments as the country navigates out of the pandemic (image: Shutterstock)Labour wants new flexible working reforms so parents can work around childcare and family commitments as the country navigates out of the pandemic (image: Shutterstock)
Labour wants new flexible working reforms so parents can work around childcare and family commitments as the country navigates out of the pandemic (image: Shutterstock)

- Labour has placed renewed emphasis on workers’ rights in recent days as it looks to use the summer months to reconnect with voters following its drubbing during the 2019 general election and its by-election defeat in Hartlepool in May

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- Officials pointed to the pledge in the last Conservative manifesto, committing to consulting on making flexible working the “default unless employers have good reasons not to”, and argued the Government had broken its promise by failing to bring forward a review

- The government has said it has reconvened the Flexible Working Taskforce to “better understand and promote this type of working”

What’s been said

Angela Rayner and Kier Starmer's party are calling for flexible working to become the “new normal” after the experience during the Covid pandemic (image: Ian Forsyth/Getty/File picture)Angela Rayner and Kier Starmer's party are calling for flexible working to become the “new normal” after the experience during the Covid pandemic (image: Ian Forsyth/Getty/File picture)
Angela Rayner and Kier Starmer's party are calling for flexible working to become the “new normal” after the experience during the Covid pandemic (image: Ian Forsyth/Getty/File picture)

Speaking before a visit to Yorkshire to announce the policy Rayner said: “Flexible working is not just about working from home, it is about a fundamental change to working practices to improve the lives of all working people. Flexible working means work fitting around people’s lives, not dictating their lives.

“Labour will make flexible working a force for good so that everyone is able to enjoy the benefits of flexible working, from a better work-life balance to less time commuting and more time with their family.”

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However, Labour MP Diane Abbot said on Twitter: So Keir will make Britain the best place to work - unless you work for @UKLabour. He has made 90 staff redundant. But is also recruiting workers on insecure temporary contracts with worse employment conditions #FutureOfWork.”

Referring to the redundancy scheme, a Labour source told The Independent it was re-shaping its party for the general election. They said: “This is not an easy decision and we recognise it will be a very difficult time for staff. We will fully engage and consult with them and the trade unions throughout.”

Backrground

Labour said the right to flexible working for all workers should be defaulted from day one of employment.

It called for an end to “one-sided flexibility” so staff have stable employment and mutually-agreed predictable working hours and shift patterns so they can plan their lives.

But the Trade Union Congress found that more than half the UK workforce are not eligible for so-called “flexi time”, while 30% of flexible working requests are turned down by employers.