Flexible Working Requests - Time for a change? | Ergo Law Employment Law

Flexible Working Requests – Time for Change?

What is the Issue?

A recent study on flexible working has found that roughly half of the 13,000 working mothers who responded said that their employer had either rejected, or only partially accepted a request for flexible working. Further, a huge 86% of women who were already working flexibly said that they faced discrimination and disadvantages at work as result of their working patterns.

Generally, those who responded to the survey said that they were concerned of what their employer’s reaction would be, and also that there was no point in asking for flexible working since their request would be turned down. Just 5% of the women who had not made a request for flexible working said that this was because they didn’t need it.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called for a legal right to flexible work to be advertised with every job, and the government is currently consulting on this, in addition to other areas for reform.

How can we Help?

Advice for Employees

Often, information on making a flexible working request and your flexible working rights are set out within an Employer’s Handbook, although this is not always the case. Making a flexible working request is known as “making a statutory application”.  All employees have the legal right to request flexible working, irrespective of whether they are a parent or a carer.

There are some requirements that employees need to meet before they can make such a request, with one being that they should have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks to be eligible. You should also make sure that you are legally classed as an employee, for example, contractors would not be able to make flexible working requests. Finally, you must make sure that you’ve not made any previous flexible working requests in the last 12 months.

A request for flexible working could include reasons such as:

·        Reducing your hours to work part-time

·        Altering your start and finish times

·        Working compressed hours (doing your hours over fewer days)

·        Working remotely, where you work from home or elsewhere all, or part of the time.

At Ergo, we can provide you with flexible working legal advice for employees and assist in drafting any request, ensuring that you meet any statutory criteria.

Advice for Employers

As an employer, there are certain things that you should do if an employee makes a flexible working request.

You should deal with requests in a “reasonable manner” and follow the Acas Code of Practice on flexible working requests. You should also ensure that you respond to any request from an employee within three weeks. Finally, you should treat all requests for flexible working in the same way, irrespective if they come from an employee who is a parent / carer or not.

When considering a flexible working request, we would expect an employer to:

·        Assess the advantages and disadvantages of the application

·        Hold a meeting to discuss the request with the employee

·        Offer an appeal process

There are certainly benefits to considering flexible working requests, for example as a way to encourage employee loyalty and boost retention. It would also be indirectly beneficial to supporting women in the workplace, since the majority of employees who make flexible working requests are women. Women are twice as likely to work flexibly compared to men – with women with children being the most likely to make use of flexible work arrangements.

If, however, it is not possible to accommodate a flexible working request, then we would be able to assist you in drafting a response for refusal. We would also be able to provide you with legal guidance and training if needed on how to avoid any potential claims for discrimination arising from the flexible working requests.

If you have any questions about requests and rights to flexible working, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch for more advice.