'Ahead of the curve' | Tesco allows staff to request flexible working from day one, a year before law changes

Tesco has rolled out policy changes, allowing its workforce to request flexibility from the first day of working at the supermarket, almost a year before the law changes around flexible work.

The supermarket chain has brought about changes to its policy, which previously stated that workers must wait six months before requesting flexibility, which enables its more than 300,000 employees to request flexible working arrangements from day one of their contract.

The move comes almost a year before the government implements new laws which will give all employees the right to request flexibility from day one, illustrating Tesco’s overt support for flexible work.

The new law will mean employers will be expected to consider flexibility requests from workers who will now only be expected to wait two months, instead of three, for a decision to be made, and have the right to make two requests in a year.