Employees will soon have the right to ask for flexible working arrangements from the day they start their job under new government legislation.

The current rules mean that workers have to wait 26 weeks (that’s almost six months) before making a flexible working request to their bosses.

Just one such request is allowed every 12 months, and employers are then given three months to respond. The grounds for rejection are broad, and employees can’t appeal.

The new law will not only mean that workers won’t have to wait as long before asking for changes, it will also ensure that if an employer can’t accommodate a flexible working request, “alternative options” must first be discussed before simply rejecting it out of hand, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy confirmed.

Under these regulations, flexible working can mean anything from working from home to flexi-time or job-sharing options.

The demand for hybrid working has shot up since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, when many office workers proved to their employers that they could carry out the demands of their job from a laptop in their front room just as capably as they could from a city centre office building.

Evidence gathered for a UK parliament study earlier this year found that more than 80% of employees who worked from home because of the pandemic prefer a hybrid working model, while a survey from workplace organisation Acas this summer found that three in five employers have seen an increase in hybrid working arrangements compared to pre-pandemic days. 

From better work-life balance and warding off burnout to making things easier for working mums and other carers, the potential benefits of a more flexible approach to work are well-documented. But if the back-to-the-office culture wars of the last year or so have shown us anything, it’s that standing up for this approach isn’t always easy to do when you’re faced with a seemingly inflexible employer. And if you’re totally new to a company, what’s the best way to broach this potentially awkward conversation?

The best place to begin, advises Kate Kurdziej, founder of online business management company Olivier Consultancy, is to focus on the positive impact that these tweaks to your working pattern will have. Your boss will most likely be thinking about the company’s bottom line, so if you can make a convincing case that hybrid work will help you do your job better, you’re more likely to get them on-side quickly. 

“If you want to request flexible working from day one in a role, always lead with what’s in it for the employer,” she says. “Give them no reason to say no to your request! They will benefit from increased productivity and work output… a quieter, more focused environment to make sales or business calls and so much more - showcase the positives and perks to make flexible working seem like a no-brainer to them.”

Rather than springing the request on your new employer “out of nowhere”, she advises making them aware of your preferences as early on in the process as appropriate. If you’re a new starter, that might mean having these discussions when you’re negotiating your salary or when you’re talking about how your first day will pan out; otherwise, it might mean scheduling in catch-up with your line manager.

Rocking up on a busy Monday morning and asking your colleagues about flexible Fridays is unlikely to do you any favours. “When it comes to most things in life, timing is everything”, notes psychotherapist turned executive coach Desirée Silverstone. “If you want someone to listen to what you have to say, it’s helpful to approach them at a time when they are more open to hearing what you have to say. Consider scheduling a time when they will be focused on you.”

“Prefacing is a very helpful way to prepare someone,” she adds. “Explain that you are aware you have just started your job, but you would appreciate their consideration of your request.” 

Flexi-working is such a catch-all term that there’s a risk of sounding vague, and your employer will probably want to know how you envisage your working week, so preempt that with a proper plan. “Your proposal should include how it would work on a practical level and how it could be a trial run and reviewed at a later stage,” Silverstone suggests. Whether you’re on day one or week 100 of your current role, it’ll make all the difference.

Images: Getty