The Right to Request Flexible Working Arrangements under the Work-life Balance Directive – A Comparative Perspective

Waddington, Lisa, and Bell, Mark, The Right to Request Flexible Working Arrangements Under the Work-Life Balance Directive – a Comparative Perspective (2021) European Labour Law Journal 1-21.

21 Pages Posted: 18 Nov 2021

See all articles by Mark Bell

Mark Bell

Trinity College Dublin; University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Lisa Waddington

Maastricht University; University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Date Written: October 22, 2021

Abstract

The 2019 Work-life Balance Directive creates a new right for parents and carers to request flexible working arrangements for caring purposes. The significance of this innovation has been heightened by the pandemic because it includes the right to request remote working arrangements. This article undertakes a contextual and comparative analysis in order to understand better the strengths, limitations and opportunities created by the Directive. It compares the right to request flexible working arrangements to provisions found in existing Directives on Parental Leave and Part-time Work, as well as protections that may be derived from EU equality law. It looks also at examples of existing legislation in two jurisdictions, the Netherlands and Australia, in order to illustrate the options available to Member States when they implement this right within domestic law. The article concludes that the full potential of this right can only be understood when it is viewed as part of a wider range of legal provisions that assist in the reconciliation of work and family life.

Keywords: Flexible working, work-life balance, remote working, discrimination, reasonable accommodation

Suggested Citation

Bell, Mark and Waddington, Lisa, The Right to Request Flexible Working Arrangements under the Work-life Balance Directive – A Comparative Perspective (October 22, 2021). Waddington, Lisa, and Bell, Mark, The Right to Request Flexible Working Arrangements Under the Work-Life Balance Directive – a Comparative Perspective (2021) European Labour Law Journal 1-21. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3947821 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3947821

Mark Bell (Contact Author)

Trinity College Dublin ( email )

School of Law
College Green
Dublin, 2
Ireland

University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

Lisa Waddington

Maastricht University ( email )

PO Box 616
Maastricht, 6200 MD
Netherlands

University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law

Boalt Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
United States

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