As NABS' Nicky Harris writes of her personal experience of the need for flexible working as a carer, the government are consulting on how they can encourage greater flexibility at work.

This time last year, the government made a commitment to consider creating a duty for all employers to assess whether a job can be done flexibly and make that clear when advertising the role.  The proposals currently under consultation consider whether:

1.  employers with more than 250 employees should be required to publish their flexible working policies;
2. employers should be required to publish on a central database whether flexible working is available from the start; the approach to place, hours and times of work; and the approach to informal flexibility (e.g. adjusted start times for appointments); and
3. job advertisements should be required to provide information on the opportunities for flexible working.

This "nudge" approach is a feature of much of the recent consultation on employment law reforms.  It is clear that the government hopes that greater transparency will lead to a levelling up of behaviour.  The consultation closes next week.