From today (30 June 2014) employees have
a statutory right to request flexible working if they have worked continually
for their employer for 26 weeks. Previously employees were required to meet
strict eligibility criteria such as caring responsibilities.
Employees are entitled to make one
request per year; however the right to request does not give an employee the
right to work flexibly. The employer is under a duty to consider the request,
and not to necessarily grant it.
As long as an employer acts reasonably and
can produce a strong business reason for the rejecting the request, they would
be compliant with the new rules. Employees can take a complaint to the
employment tribunal but must do so within 3 months.
In terms of the request itself,
employees do not have to have caring responsibilities or even a wish to do
something constructive such as undertake part time study. A request could
legitimately be made for a late start on a Monday, purely because the employee
wants a lie in.
Businesses are permitted to take account
of their operational needs when turning down a request; however some employers
have expressed concern over prioritising requests. Should parents always been
given first refusal? How do you deal with grievances between employees where
one has been granted flexible working and another hasn’t?
The CBI has allegedly reported to have
said where there are multiple requests and only one can be accommodated, names
should be ‘put in a hat’.
Employers are also concerned about
inviting discrimination claims where someone is treated more favourably in
terms of a flexible working request, annoying other employees.
The government is pushing family
friendly policies and wants to change the modern working culture, their rational
being that it will encourage economic growth. Happy workers = productive
workers?
Commentators have stated that those who
already offer wide ranging flexible working will in reality be unaffected and
that the changes in the workforce are unlikely to be dramatic.
Have you had a flexible working request?
Not sure what to do? Call our team (01745 343 500) or make an enquiry via our
webpage: http://gamlinslaw.co.uk/
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