Any employee who has been employed for a minimum of 26 weeks has the legal right to request flexible working. Flexible working could be having flexible start and finish times, annualised hours or working from home for example.
Employees must make a ‘statutory application’ and employers can set out a standard form to do this on. In response to the application employers have a duty to deal with them in a ‘reasonable manner’ within 3 months- If not the employee may be able to make a claim to the employment tribunal.
When a request is made the employer should arrange a meeting to show they are dealing with the request reasonably. They should discuss how the request would work and the pros and cons of allowing it.
If agreed then the employment contract should be changed accordingly. If refused it has to be for a good business reason such as increased costs or reduction in quality of work. An appeal should be allowed following a rejection.
As employees have the right to go to an employment tribunal if employers don’t treat requests appropriately it is very important they are taken seriously. If an employee does make a request then it is important you always seek advice before responding.
When a request is made the employer should arrange a meeting to show they are dealing with the request reasonably. They should discuss how the request would work and the pros and cons of allowing it.
If agreed then the employment contract should be changed accordingly. If refused it has to be for a good business reason such as increased costs or reduction in quality of work. An appeal should be allowed following a rejection.
As employees have the right to go to an employment tribunal if employers don’t treat requests appropriately it is very important they are taken seriously. If an employee does make a request then it is important you always seek advice before responding.
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