Transport 19h 47m left
Should large employers have to stagger staff start times to ease rush-hour traffic?
No UK law requires employers to stagger start times. Employees have a day-one right to request flexible working, including changes to their hours, and employers can refuse on eight statutory business grounds. Employers must now answer within two months. A 2026 government consultation looked at making refusals harder, and staggering is mainly a voluntary tool used to cut peak crowding and spread demand, for example at EV charging sites.
11 Opinions
I drive for a living. I’m out there more often than I’m not. The thing that makes the biggest difference to traffic density is the school run. The summer holiday is one of the best times of year for us. If something needs fixing it’s that.
How about advise them to stagger start times, not just because of the rush hour, but to help parents of school age children get them to school. Flexible working hours are helpful for staff and the business.
When we say "Have To" what does that mean? Let's start in a small city, let the employees select the hours they want to in a working week. Feed all those time sheets in a super hot and cleverly cool AI and let it roll. Sorry, we're all Winners and Losers in our lives. Bloody absolutely nice one, if employees can swap among each others to help themselves and their company. Great.
Stop regulating employers and you might find out economy start to move again.
We need to go back to improving accessibility of towns not constantly restricting access. Road capacity in London has been reduced by 30%. We need to reverse most of this not try and fit the economy around it.
enforcing staggered times would actually take away some choice for employees to choose - or NOT choose to ask for flexible hours
Rush hour gridlock is a massive drain on our public infrastructure, public transit, and the environment. Large employers absolutely have the resources to adapt their schedules. Staggering start times is a pragmatic state intervention that benefits the entire community, not just private business interests.
As an employer you select start times to suit your business. The lightening of traffic in school holidays demonstrates this is a significant contributor, and most employers that can allow flexibility in working hours.
Yes, a lot of our 'working life' needs profound change. I also want a 4 day work week & UBI - so 8 billion people can have a healthy balanced existence with a good income to truly live & enjoy life again. This survival mode we are trapped in has got to have an expiration date. ⚡️ I don't know if it requires a mandate or just cultural evolution. 🤔 Edited
It makes sense for companies to be flexible around staff times when start times do not impact business outcomes. Avoiding rush hour saves workers time and creates better work life balance and theoretically happier and more productive employees. But this is not something governments should legislate for.