Thought piece:
A consideration of the Timelines inherent in flexible working requests.
In our latest Flexible Working programme insight, John Falconbridge educational leader discusses the time of flexible working requests.
School leaders and teachers will inevitably consider the 6th April 2024 adjustments to flexible working legislation from differing perspectives. Some school leaders may welcome the changes as an opportunity to innovate whilst others may be concerned about the implications for their settings of these changes and what this legislation might look like in practice.
Evidence suggests that the demand for flexibility in the school's workforce is growing and that the legislation will be welcomed by teachers as an overdue opportunity to gain the flexibility needed to adapt to the sometimes-challenging role of school teaching in the context of the complexities of life in the 21st century. It may appear that there is a tension between the perspective of some school leaders and the wider workforce, but the reality at present is that lack of flexibility is a contributing factor to the challenge of recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers which, if resolved, would potentially see more people remaining in the school workforce, allowing school leaders to fully staff their classes.
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