Government consultation on modern workplaces 

About the consultation

The modern workplaces consultation sought views on the Government's plans to:

• extend the right to request flexible working to all employees
• introduce a new system of shared parental leave from 2015
• "encourage equal pay for equal work between men and women"
• amend the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) to allow for carry over of annual leave in certain circumstances.

A full copy of the consultation document is available on the Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) website.

NHS Employers' submission to the Government's consultation on modern workplaces

NHS Employers put together a short online questionnaire to gather feedback from NHS organisations. The survey included 13 questions, which generated 80 eligible responses from senior human resources professionals in the service on which we have based our submission.  

Questions and key findings 

• Do you agree with the proposal to allow employers to limit carry over of leave in sickness cases to the four week entitlement under Regulation 13? 72.2 per cent in agreement.
• Do you agree with the proposal to allow employers to limit the right to reschedule leave in the event of sickness to the four weeks entitlement under regulation 13? 66.3 per cent in agreement.
• Do you agree that there is no merit in amending the Working Time Regulations to limit the accrual of annual leave during sickness absence to the four week entitlement under regulation 13? 44.9 per cent in agreement.
• Do you agree that where employers have breached the law, requiring employers to conduct equal pay audits is an effective way to increase transparency? 88.6 per cent in agreement.
• Do you agree the obligation to conduct an audit should apply to all employers found to have breached an equality clause except in specified circumstances? 85.7 per cent in agreement.
• Do you agree that audits should not be ordered if one has been conducted in the last three years; there is another means in place of ensuring the pay structure is non-discriminatory; or the tribunal does not consider it to be productive? 80.5 per cent in agreement.
• Should the Government legislate to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees? 86.1 per cent in agreement
• Do you support the proposal to replace the statutory process for the consideration of requests with a Code of Practice? 66.7 per cent in agreement
• Should parental leave and pay be available to mothers and fathers on an equal basis? 84.4 per cent in agreement.
• Should parents be expected to provide an indication of their full plans for taking the paid elements of parental leave prior to the child's expected date of birth (with the ability to changes these plans subject to notice)? 85.7 per cent in agreement
• Is the child’s first birthday the right cut-off point for parents to receive parental pay? 89.3 per cent in agreement.
• Up to what age of the child should unpaid parental leave be available? The split across the suggested ages was as follows:

Conclusions

In the conlusion, NHS Employers emphasised the need to recognise and mitigate, the administrative burden and additional costs that might be involved in taking forward some of these changes, to frmly embed any changes in legislation, and to present these in a clear and unambiguous way to employers. 

Download a full copy of NHS Employers response to the consultation.