Craig Ludlow speaks on flexible working at Acas conference

13th April 2022

Flexible working: a strategic approach to increase productivity and tackle skill shortages - 12 May 2022

A recent Acas survey found that half of employers in Great Britain expected an increase in demand for flexible forms of working from employees, including hybrid options.

However, there is growing evidence to suggest that there remains a significant mismatch between employees' preferences towards different types of flexible working and employers' offerings, leading to various degrees of costly workplace conflict.

The benefits of flexible working are often seen as "all pro-employee" when there are actual real business benefits too.

Join Acas and guest speakers at this digital conference as we:

• discuss how flexible working including hybrid working can be a creative approach to increase productivity, tackle skill shortages and improve workplace equality
• explain the legal consideration and requirements
• provide a case study on introducing a scalable, flexible work request tool including; consultation, benefits and challenges
• provide advice and practical tools to support flexible work options

Speakers include our very own Craig Ludlow Craig LudlowCall: 2002 (pictured here) Head of Employment and Discrimination Law Team. Craig will talk about key legal considerations for flexible work requests including potential unintended consequences (positives and challenges), relevant case law and Acas conciliation.

He will be presenting and discussing the issues alongside:

Susan Clews, Acas: Chief Executive - Susan will reflect on how the pandemic has greatly impacted working life, the shift towards flexible working, including hybrid working. Susan will discuss how Acas has worked with the Flexible Working Task Force to develop guidance for employers in navigating the challenges, issues, and opportunities for these dynamic ways of working.

Matilda Quiney, TUC: Head of Management Services and Administration - Matilda will discuss how making genuine flexible working the default, could be an important catalyst for promoting greater workplace equality.

Stephanie Elton, HS2: Senior Employee Relations Manager, Case Study - Stephanie will talk through the HS2 journey to develop an automated flexible work request dashboard tool, scalable for any business size. The tool is designed to support line managers with objective and evidence-based discussions aiming to arrive at a fair, lawfully compliant decision for formal flexible work requests.

Maggie Steven, Acas: Senior Advisor - A pragmatic session where Maggie will discuss several practical toolkits and other resources available to support workplaces, whether a large or SME organisation and the importance of linking flexible work requests to other policies.

Panel Discussion - We will discuss the questions raised during the event and reiterate key points raised from speakers.

Find out more and book here