Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a day one right to request flexible working from job offer rather than first day of employment.

The Government consulted on whether all employees should be given a ‘day one’ right to request flexible working in 2021. Having reviewed consultation responses from a range of stakeholders, the Government decided to proceed with plans to extend the right to all employees from their first day of employment.

This conclusion was set out in our response to the consultation “Making Flexible Working the Default”, which was published in September 2022.