In the United Kingdom, employees have the right to request changes to their hours, days or place of work, which the employer must consider and can refuse only on serious business grounds (limited to employees who have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks). In New Zealand and the United Kingdom, changes to working hours and/or other work arrangements granted under tire entitlement to request flexible working result in a permanent change in the contract, unless the employee and employer agree at the time of request that the change is for a set and specified period of time. Many countries require employees to meet additional criteria for requesting part-time work or changes to working hours (e.g. length of service or size of firm), see OECD (2015f). In Germany, a wide range of recent policy initiatives address the numerous obstacles in the way of more equal sharing in working families.