Are you Entitled to Work Flexibly?

From the 30 June 2014, the right to request flexible working arrangements is being extended so that any employee with more than 26 weeks’ continuous service can request to work flexibly. Currently, only parents of children under the age of 17 (or 18 for parents of a disabled child) or carers are permitted to request flexible working arrangements.

Flexible working rights give employees a legal right to request a change to their employment contract so that they can have a more flexible working arrangement. Changes to working patterns can take many forms including: home working, part time working, flexitime, job sharing and shift working.

The Government estimates that as many as 10 million employees will now become eligible to request flexible working time. This will include those with adult caring responsibilities, those considering re-training or further study or employees simply wanting a better work/life balance.

If you are eligible and interested in making a flexible working request you should ensure that your request:

1. Is made in writing, stating the date of the application, your proposed change(s) to your working conditions and when you would like the change(s) to take effect.
2. States what effect(s), if any, you believe the change(s) would have on the business and how any such effect(s) could be dealt with
3. Confirms that it is a statutory request and states whether you have previously made a flexible working request.

As part of the changes to flexible working, employers will no longer have to follow a statutory procedure when considering requests but instead do so in a ‘reasonable’ manner. Your employer should therefore arrange a meeting with you to discuss your application. The decision should be confirmed in writing and you should be offered the right to appeal if the request is declined.

There are only a limited number of reasons to refuse a flexible working request which can include:

• The additional costs to the business which the change(s) requested would result in;
• The inability to reorganise the work amongst existing staff or to recruit the additional staff needed; or
• Because there is not enough work to do at the time when you want to work.