AQW 49155/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 19/06/2026
Answered On Date: 02/07/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail any steps being taken to promote flexible and family friendly working practices, including (i) job sharing; and (ii) part-time progression opportunities.

Answer:

My Employment Rights Bill, which is with the Executive for approval, includes enhancements of the right to make a statutory flexible working request for all employees. To make it easier for people to ask their employer for flexible working arrangements, employees will be permitted to make two statutory flexible working requests rather than the current 1 in a 12-month period and employees will no longer be required to state the potential impact of a flexible working request. I will also introduce legislation which will allow the right to request to apply from the first day of employment.

Flexible working is an agreed way of meeting the needs of an employer and an employee through alternative approaches to working. These can include flexibilities such as flexible start and finish patterns; compressed hours; job sharing; part-time working; home, remote or hybrid working arrangements; or any combination thereof.

Alongside legislative reform, my Department works with the Labour Relations Agency (LRA), which actively promotes flexible and family-friendly working practices through guidance and employer-focused resources, including case studies demonstrating the benefits of approaches such as job sharing, part-time working and flexible hours.

I strongly encourage employers to offer enhanced flexible and supportive working arrangements for their staff as flexible working arrangements are an important means of ensuring the work and personal commitments of employees can be balanced. Also, evidence shows that flexible working can help businesses improve staff retention, reduce recruitment costs, and build a more resilient workforce. Employers who offer flexibility are generally more attractive to candidates, which is particularly important when many sectors are reporting ongoing recruitment difficulties.