Employees will be able to request flexible working from the first day they start a new job under a Labour government, the party has announced.
Shadow women and equalities secretary Dawn Butler said the move would particularly benefit women who shoulder the majority of caring responsibilities in the home and who are most likely to request flexible working.
Under current legislation, employees have to have worked for 26 weeks continuously for an employer before they are entitled to put in a request for flexible hours.
However, Ms Butler will tell the Labour Women’s Conference in Telford that change is “essential” if women are not to be held back in the workplace.
“Women do the vast majority of unpaid care, but this must not be a barrier to women in work,” she is expected to say.
“This change to the law is essential to closing the gender pay gap and dismantling the structural barriers that hold women back from promotion and progression.
“Under Labour’s plans, no woman will be shut out of the workplace because they’re a mum or they care for a parent or a disabled loved one, or both.
“We need an economy that works for women, not against us.”
PA
