The next step

Further information on the new flexi season ticket

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How flexible is the new flexi season ticket?

Hybrid working

With more employees working from home in recent years, the rail industry has come under mounting pressure to introduce more flexible season ticket options.

This been compounded by the rise in the new style hybrid working which is where an employee works part of the week in their workplace and part of their week at home.

In a pure hybrid working arrangement, the employee will have full control over how they schedule their working week, but employers can set specific rules, e.g. that the employee must be present on certain days or for certain meetings.

New flexi season ticket

This has led to the introduction of the new flexi season ticket which has been available since 28 June 2021. But, despite its name, it isn’t fully flexible. Instead, the conditions are that a flexi season ticket holder may only:

• travel on eight days of travel in a defined 28-day period (those days don’t have to be specified in advance)
• travel between two named stations which must be specified in advance
• use this season ticket electronically via a contactless smart card or app with an online account, i.e. there is no paper season ticket which the employer can ask to check (see The next step ).

No extensions

In the event a flexi season ticket holder exceeds eight days of travel in the defined 28-day period, they cannot increase the number of days. Therefore, as the flexi season ticket only offers a finite number of commutes between specified points, employers could find that they come up against certain problems.

One we foresee is that an employee refuses to attend work on a particular day, or for a particular event, because they don’t have any days left on their flexi season ticket.

Also, where you ask an employee to attend work on a certain day they could argue that this will mean they won’t be able to come in later in the defined 28-day period. They may even ask you to pay for another ticket if you need them to attend work.

Tip. Where you agree any type of hybrid working arrangement, make it clear that the employee is personally responsible for getting into work on those days and restrictions around season tickets, flexi or otherwise, are not an acceptable reason for non-attendance.

For further information on the new flexi season ticket, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 23, issue 14.