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18 L. & Critique 1 (2007)

handle is hein.journals/lwcrtq18 and id is 1 raw text is: Law Critique (2007) 18: 1-28 © Springer 2006 DOI 10.1007/s10978-006-9008-9 SALLY WHEELER ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE ABSTRACT. The right to request flexible working has been introduced into the UK employment laws against a background of post-fordist work practices, which already allow for employer rather than employee flexibility. This paper posits the idea that for the individual employee to benefit from these new rights what is required is the situation of dialogues within the workplace that take place in an ethical frame that recognises the employee as an individual. KEY WORDS: corporate, dialogue, ethics, Levinas, work In April 2003 the Government introduced, by means of an addition to and an amendment of existing employment legislation, provisions for employee leave for domestic reasons. Taken with the conferral of enhanced rights around maternity and paternity leave these provi- sions are the bulwark of the Labour administration's work-life bal- ance initiative. Specifically, any employee with child care responsibility, provided the child is under six years old or eighteen if disabled and subject to a qualifying period of employment, is entitled to apply to work flexibly.1 The words 'to apply' here are crucial as essentially an employee's request is for a new contract which reflects a different work pattern. The employer is given a range of grounds on which the application may be declined. Additionally, there is a right for every employed individual to unpaid time off to deal with emer- gencies involving a list of statutorily defined dependants.2 These rights are enacted as individual rights that each employee is to negotiate for with their employer's representative. The purpose of this Employment Rights Act 1996 s80F as inserted by the Employment Act 2002, s. 47. A more detailed legislative history can be found in L. Anderson, 'Sound Bite Legislation: The Employment Act 2002 and New Flexible Working Rights for Parents', Industrial Law Journal 32 (2003), 37. 2 Employment Rights Act 1996, s. 57A and s. 57B as inserted by the Employment Relations Act 1999, sch 4 (II) para 1.

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