Employment solicitor on why low paid staff have less flexible options

Many companies are now offering flexible working options, however, less well paid employees are the least likely to benefit.

HR Grapevine recently reported on a report by the charity Working Families, which found that parents earning over £70,000 a year are more likely (47%) to work flexibly than those who earn between £10,000 and £40,000 – as quoted by the BBC.

Following on from this, we spoke to Employment Solicitor Martha McKinley of Stephensons, who explained the issue at hand: “While recent changes to the law have extended the right to request flexible working, as this study has shown there is no obligation upon employers to agree requests from their employees. As some of the ‘red tape’ which surrounded flexible working has been removed, it was hoped that workplaces would become more open to those not able to work 9 to 5.

“The study doesn’t clarify whether lower paid workers make the same number of requests as their highly paid counterparts and were simply less successful, or whether they were wary of suggesting flexible working in the first place. While treating an employee less favourably as a result of such a request is unlawful, in some industries there is still a stigma surrounding those who work part time. Lower paid employees could also worry that this type of request indicates that they are not committed to their role, and negatively affect their job security.