The first employer to introduce a formal flexible working policy. All employees had the right to apply for flexible working; crucially, with no need to show a business benefit.
Work Options predated the statutory Right to Request Flexible Working by some four years, and set a standard for eligibility that was not matched until all employees with 26 weeks service were given the right to request by the implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014; while the requirement merely to be “impact neutral” was not matched until the law changed in 2024 (with the implementation of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023). Until that latter change, statutory guidance continued to require the requesting employee to demonstrate what the impact of their proposed change would be on the business.