The genie’s out of the bottle, and it isn’t going back. It’s been five years since Covid turned most of us in travel into homeworkers overnight, and many of the flexible working concessions that came out of the pandemic have now become normal – expectations, even, rather than just nice-to-haves.
Flexible working is now actually enshrined in law; since April 2024, all employees in England, Wales and Scotland have had the legal right to request flexible working from day one (those in Northern Ireland must still wait six months from their start date).
The government specifies flexible working includes the number of hours undertaken, when staff start or finish, the days they work and where they work.
Specifically, it can mean job sharing, remote working, working full-time but over fewer days, flexi-time, and annualised or staggered hours. Older workers can also ask to work part-time.
Reasonable requests
Employers are legally bound to consider all requests for flexible working in a “reasonable manner”, but can refuse if they have “good business reason”. The backstop for the employee is an employment tribunal if an agreement can’t be reached between parties.
There’s more to come; a new Employment Rights Bill (ERB) will be introduced in April. Under the ERB, employers will only be able to refuse flexible working requests if they have a “reasonable” basis to do so, and can demonstrate it.
Employers must state one of the eight specific grounds for refusal and explain why this is reasonable – it won’t be enough just to refer to one of the permitted reasons for refusal, employers must explain why the reason applies.
“This will increase the number of employment tribunals, whereas employees didn’t have that avenue before,” predicts Travlaw’s head of employment Ami Naru (inset, above), who warns employers “must be solid in their reasoning and rationale”.
It’s a far cry from 31 years ago when Travel Counsellors pioneered flexible working. “In 1994, no one was homeworking,” says Matt Harding, director of franchise sales, who recalls how one trailblazing consultant worked out how to use dial-up internet and a fax machine to book packages, helping start the homeworking revolution.
Harding tells of one Travel Counsellor who works while wintering in Thailand. Few companies are this lenient, so some may take comfort from Naru, who reveals the new legislation stops short in some areas, such as the right to a four-day week.
Another component of the ERB, the “right to switch off”, which prevents employees from being contacted outside of working hours except in exceptional circumstances, will be dropped, Naru predicts.
“There was a lot of government fanfare about this, but it wasn’t in the proposals. I think it will be a code of practice; that’s what they did in Ireland and France, and that seems to work.”
However, she urges employers to get ahead of the game. “Why wait for the government?” she says. “If you want to be an employer of choice, do it anyway or risk employee burnout and stress claims. The lines between work and home have been blurred by email, texts and WhatsApp. Management has to lead by example and set boundaries.”
Naru also believes the ERB will not take effect until autumn 2026. “There is this misconception people will have day-one rights immediately, but that’s not the case.”
Home from home
Post-pandemic, it’s a whole new world out there, and employers must adapt. But there are downsides, as HR professional Claire Steiner accepts. “We’re now post the ‘Covid generation’. People understand the benefits of being there [at work] in person, particularly if you’re starting out in a career. It’s the benefits of watching, learning, listening, which you can’t do online.”
Steiner also cites the mental health aspects for young people. “During the pandemic, they really struggled; often they were in shared houses or flats, stuck in one room all day. They want to socialise and get to know people.” However, she adds: “I don’t think we will go back to the office full-time. Young people won’t work for an employer that won’t give them flexibility.”
Retail has obvious challenges with hybrid working. Again, Steiner urges employers simply to talk to staff. “Flexible working is not necessarily about two days in the office, three at home; it’s about things like doing different hours to accommodate the school run,” she says. This is particularly important in travel, she suggests, given travel’s mainly female workforce.
“In retail, you have opportunities to use shift patterns because stores are open at weekends,” Steiner adds. “If you have a shop of 10 people and five want hybrid and five want ‘shop but flexible’, you have to work with them to keep everyone happy.”
Althams Travel is notable for its move to four-day working in 2021, offering the same pay for a 28-hour week as for 37 hours. Listening to the overwhelmingly female staff in Althams’ 33 branches prompted other adjustments, managing director Sandra McAllister explains.
“We changed the opening time to 9.30am because of the cost of pre-school clubs,” she says. “Our shops don’t get busy until 9.45am, so it avoids extra costs for staff and means they don’t get stuck in traffic. It’s a win-win.”
The four-day rota also dispenses with another negative aspect of retail work, the inability to take two consecutive days off due to Saturday working. “When it was five days, staff were counting down to the day off,” McAllister says. “Morale has completely changed now; staff stay late and put in enquiries at home because they don’t want productivity to drop.”
Retaining talent
Retention has improved, she reveals. “Last year, nine of 240 staff left – three retired and three were apprentices who didn’t want to be customer-facing. Before, we’d lose 20 to 30 a year. We’re also attracting more experienced agents.”
Travel, though, is lagging behind other sectors in terms of four-day working. Among those offering it are Marks & Spencer and Wickes, and more could follow after a pilot scheme in November run by the 4 Day Week Campaign. Organisers say a similar test in 2022 saw 54 of the 60 companies that took part make the switch permanent.
Not every agency can offer the freedom of home or four-day working, but it’s likely that with new legislation and changing culture, most will have to cut their staff some more slack.
