The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Act 2023, which will give temporary and agency workers the right to request more predictable hours, received Royal Assent on 18 September 2023. However, the Act will not come into force until next year.
Why is the New Right Being Introduced?
The new legislation will establish the right to request a predictable work pattern to address what the government describes as ‘one-sided flexibility’ where workers are often on standby for work that never comes. It is likely to have the most impact in sectors where shift patterns vary as rotas change, and where work is temporary or very casual in nature.
When Can a Request Be Made?
The Act will give workers the right to ask for a change in their contractual terms if the following conditions have been satisfied:
- there is a lack of predictability in the work they do
- the change sought relates to their ‘working pattern’, i.e. their hours, days, or fixed-term contract.
The request must clearly state the changes being requested and the date the proposed change should come into effect. Two applications can be made in any 12 months and it is envisaged that legislation will apply a 26 weeks’ service requirement.
Dealing With Requests
The right will function in a similar way to the right to request flexible working, in that it would be a right to request a change rather than an automatic right to have the change granted.
Similarly, the employer would be able to turn down the request for a number of specified reasons, similar to those open to employers refusing a flexible working request. The six statutory grounds listed in the legislation are as follows:
- additional costs
- detrimental impact on recruitment
- detrimental to the employer’s ability to meet customer demand
- detrimental impact on other areas of the business
- insufficiency of work during the proposed periods
- planned structural changes within the business
- other such grounds as the Secretary of State may specify by regulations.
However, employers should consider all requests in a ‘reasonable manner’ and must notify the worker of their decision within one month.
What Does This Mean for Employers?
While the new law is targeted at zero-hours contracts and other atypical work, other contractual arrangements may be caught by the provisions. For example, a contract that specifies core hours or work but states that they can be varied by management as and when required, or even the standard requirement to work such hours as are needed to fulfil the duties of the role, are arguably a work pattern with a lack of predictability as to hours of work.
It is unlikely that employees with these types of contracts will request a change and the employer always has the option to refuse for one of the specified reasons. Nevertheless, all employers should still put in place procedures to make sure that they deal with any such requests reasonably and within the required timescale of one month.
Furthermore, it is important to note that the right to request more predictable hours will not take effect straight away; the press release on this subject states that the government expects the Act and related regulations to come into force approximately a year after Royal Assent to give employers time to get ready for the changes. Acas has also committed to preparing a new statutory Code of Practice to assist workers and businesses in understanding the law and to offer guidance on how requests should be made and considered.
For advice on how to prepare for the changes or to discuss how the new legislation might impact your specific organisation, please feel free to contact our expert Employment law team via email.
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