Flexible Working

FLEXIBLEWORKING ELAS TOPIC GUIDES

HEALTH&SAFETYMANAGEMENTCONSULTANTS

CAN ALL MY EMPLOYEES SUBMIT A FLEXIBLE WORKING REQUEST? Yes, all employees have the right to ask their employer if they can change their hours of work providing they have been employed for over 26 weeks (6 months) and haven’t submitted a previous request in the past 12 months.

MUST HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED OVER 26 WEEKS (6 MONTHS)

ARE THERE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FLEXIBLE WORKING REQUESTS? Yes, an employee may want to:

• Change their start time • Change their end time • Change their break times

• Change days worked • Change their days off • Change the number of hours they work

DO I HAVE TO GRANT AN EMPLOYEE THEIR FLEXIBLE WORKING REQUEST? Employees do have the right to submit flexible working requests however it is not an automatic right to have the request granted. You can only reject the flexible working request for valid business reasons including: • Burden of additional costs • Inability to recruit additional staff • Detrimental impact on quality and performance

As an employer you need to consider each request separately, fully and fairly using the correct procedure.

You also can’t refuse a request because you don’t want to set a precedent and grant requests from everyone who asks.

CAN I ASKMY EMPLOYEE THE REASONS BEHIND THEM WANTING TO SUBMIT A FLEXIBLE WORKING REQUEST? Unfortunately you can’t . The reasons why an employee makes a request for flexible working should not be taken into consideration when making your decision on the request. If you do ask about their reasoning you are opening yourself up to claims of basing your judgement on something which is not a valid business reason.

AN EMPLOYEE HAS JUST SUBMITTED A FLEXIBLE WORKING REQUEST, WHAT SHOULD I DO? STEP 1 Upon receiving a request for flexible working you should arrange a formal hearing to go through the request and actually understand it .

STEP 3 Once you have made your decision – whether this is accepting or rejecting the request – it should be confirmed in writing, setting out the full reasons behind your decision and the employee’s right of appeal. Accepting a request means a permanent change to the employee’s contract of employment. By offering an alternative solution , you are still rejecting the request and therefore need to justify the business reasons for this.

STEP 2 You now should look at whether you can accommodate the request.

WANT TO KNOWMORE?

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If you are interested in any of our courses, please contact [email protected] Visit our blog for up to date information on all things employment law. blog.elas.uk.com/blog

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HEALTH&SAFETYMANAGEMENTCONSULTANTS