The United Kingdom Right to Request as a Model for Flexible Work in the European Union

摘要

Flexible work, the practice of giving employees some control over their working time, can transform the modern workplace. Once the province of scattered national legislation, the European Union is now considering the inclusion of flextime rights in the Working Time Directive (WTD), the leading EU legislation related to work time. In this article, we propose that the European Commission should adopt a right to request flexible work as part of the WTD. Adoption of the right to request flexible work would significantly alleviate the challenges employees face in maintaining work-life balance. The right to request flexible work can also provide benefits to employers by increasing employee loyalty and productivity. Finally, adoption of the right to request flexible work into the WTD would improve the overall effectiveness of the EU's employment law framework in an increasingly fast-paced and competitive society.