Ibec Partner Profile: Helping employers and staff navigate a new world of flexible and remote working

The much-anticipated Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Right to Request Flexible Working and the Right to Request Remote Working was published earlier this month, and the right of employees to request flexible working and remote working in accordance with the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 came into force at the same time.

“The purpose of the code is to provide best-practice guidance to employers and employees in relation to how requests for flexible and remote working arrangements are made and managed,” explains Fiona Higgins, who heads up Ibec’s Knowledge Centre, which forms part of the organisation’s employer relations service.

“The code aims to give guidance on best-practice principles, including the decision-making process when considering requests and any changes that may be sought or made to an arrangement,” she adds.

Highlighting the importance of the new guidance, more than two-thirds of respondents to a survey of senior HR leaders conducted by Ibec last year placed particular emphasis on offering hybrid and remote working where feasible as part of their talent attraction and retention strategies. But work is only just beginning on the hybrid working concept, according to Higgins.

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“As a still relatively new working concept at scale, hybrid and flexible working as a practice requires further development in the face of the multiplicity of competing demands and considerations for both employers and employees,” she says. “These range from employee safety and welfare, compliance with employment legislation including working time laws, data protection and cyber security to employee engagement and communications. In a dispersed and demanding workplace environment, there are a lot of constituent parts that need continuous monitoring in order to measure the success or otherwise of hybrid working.”

Beyond legislative compliance, how do organisations ensure effective collaboration and team cohesion in a dispersed working environment? “This is in part down to developing clear team goals and objectives and facilitating communication channels for employees to check in regularly. However, for teams to be truly effective, there has to be autonomy and empowerment as well as trust within the relationship.”

This is where the concept of psychological safety comes in. First introduced by Amy Edmondson, professor of leadership and management at Harvard Business School, the concept may sound lofty, but it is now seen as an essential ingredient in most high-performing teams. “Team psychological safety is defined as the shared belief held by team members that it’s okay to take risks, express ideas and raise concerns, speak up with questions, and, more importantly, admit mistakes – all without fear of negative consequences,” Higgins explains.

While it is widely accepted that hybrid work allows employees to balance work and personal life more effectively, there is legislation on the right to disconnect and the definition of work hours and personal time to ensure that domestic and workplace demands do not become blurred. “The Workplace Relations Commission [WRC] Code of Practice on the Right to Disconnect, published in April 2021, provides guidance and best-practice advice for employers and employees,” says Higgins.

Occupational safety and health (OSH) protocols are also critically important. “Employers need to address ergonomic set-ups,” she points out. “For those working from home whose main work is computer work, the display screen equipment [DSE] regulations apply. The DSE regulations set out the minimum requirements for both the workstation and the working environment and require an employer to conduct a DSE risk assessment each time an employee has a significant change to their work environment. The employer must provide training to the employee on how to set up and use the workstation and ensure that the employee takes regular micro breaks away from the VDU screen.”

Employers with concerns in relation to compliance with workplace regulations and legislation can contact Ibec for advice and guidance, Higgins adds. “The Ibec Knowledge Centre is a key component of our employer relations and employment support services, providing expert advice and support on employment legislation and practice, workplace disputes and investigations,” she says. “Working across the areas of employment legislation, industrial relations, occupational health and safety and HR strategy, our team is available daily to respond to members’ needs quickly and comprehensively.”

Ibec has also developed an employers’ toolkit for hybrid working that is available through its website.

“Every aspect of flexible and hybrid working will be subject to review and analysis over the coming years to determine its success or failure in different sectors and organisations,” Higgins concludes. “This is just the beginning, and the new code is welcome best-practice guidance as the evolution of hybrid working continues.”