Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Government taskforce urges permanent job flexibility for all workers

Government taskforce urges permanent job flexibility for all workers

Millions could benefit from new rights to work from home once the pandemic is over

Millions of employees could be given the chance to switch permanently to more flexible working arrangements under forthcoming guidance designed to encourage firms to make long-term some of the emergency changes ushered in by the pandemic.

The government’s flexible working taskforce is drawing up guidance – before the expected lifting of the remaining lockdown restrictions, including the requirement to work from home, on 21 June – to support the emergence of new, hybrid ways of working. For example, staff might come into offices only occasionally and work at home or at a neighbourhood cafe for the rest of the week.

Peter Cheese, the co-chair of the taskforce, said the pandemic had demonstrated that people could work productively away from traditional workplaces, with 71% of firms reporting that home working had either boosted or made no difference to productivity. “This is an opportunity to shift ways of working, which have barely changed for generations,” he said. “It will allow more people with other life commitments to participate in work and it will improve wellbeing.”

While a consultation on strengthening flexible working rights is expected after the local elections this week, some of the government’s most senior figures, including Boris Johnson and his chancellor, Rishi Sunak, have suggested employers should reopen offices to help the recovery of city-centre businesses. One unnamed minister went as far as to brief the Telegraph last summer that workers should be sacked if they did not return to the office.

“There have been mixed messages from the government,” said Cheese, who is chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). “If the cities have far fewer people, local businesses are going to have to adapt.”

Waterloo station in London at ‘rush hour’ on 3 September 2020.


The taskforce, which met last month, is considering whether employment contracts need to change to enable more ad hoc, hybrid working in different locations. Employers will still need to ensure employees have a safe place to work.

“We need to understand what the law is and what might have to change,” Cheese said. “But we are going to have to learn as we go along.”

There are concerns, however, that these new ways of working could become the preserve of middle-class professionals with office-based jobs. Another member of the taskforce, Sue Coe, who is a TUC policy officer, said employers should offer different kinds of flexibility. “We are concerned about the potential for a two-tier workforce emerging with the flexible working haves, who can work from home, and the flexible working have-nots, who cannot,” she said. “These workers need access to flexitime, part-time working, job shares. We need flexible working for everybody.”

Research by the CIPD shows 44% of employees have not worked from home at all during the pandemic as their jobs do not allow it – yet only 30% of employers are planning to introduce other types of flexible working in the next six to 12 months.

The taskforce may recommend that new recruits should be able to apply immediately for flexible working instead of waiting the current 26 weeks. Cheese believes that firms should be forced to publish flexible working data.

He said: “We could say to organisations we want to see better evidence about how you are enacting flexible working practices and how many people are working in flexible ways. It is not just about employment law [changes] – it is about encouraging these behaviours by requiring greater transparency.”

Although the right to request flexible working was extended to all employees in 2014, the proportion of the workforce actually allowed to work flexibly has flatlined at just over a quarter of workers.

Coe said: “The right to request is a right to be turned down.”

The TUC would like the taskforce to propose a duty on employers to include flexible options in job adverts. “It would mainstream flexibility,” Coe added. “Instead of workers going cap in hand to managers and flexible working being doled out sparingly as a perk, people would have the right to take up the advertised flexibility.”

The pandemic has shown how quickly employers were able to identify the roles that could be performed at home. “It was done for one of the more complex areas of flexible working,” Coe said. “Why can’t employers do that, for, say, flexitime or job shares?”

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has been approached for comment.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
×