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Practical Pointers for Flexible Working Requests

on Friday, 13 January 2017.

According to the recent Workingmums Annual Survey, over 25% of working mothers have had requests for flexible working refused by their employers.

And 20% of working mothers have been forced to leave their jobs because a flexible working request has been declined.

Flexible working is an increasingly important issue not just for working parents, but for employees generally and particularly for employers. Facilitating flexible working requires thought and effort on the part of the employer where usual working patterns and approach to work are being challenged. Use of technology to support what we do increasingly means that an employee does not need to be in the office to be able to carry out their duties, and a more devolved workforce brings its own challenge.

Some Practical Pointers

We thought it would be helpful to remind you of some important practical considerations when a flexible working request is made of you:

  • All employees with at least 26 weeks' continuous employment have the right to request flexible working. If that request is made of you, you have  a duty to act reasonably in responding to it.
  • If a request for flexible working is to be refused, you should have a legitimate business reason for that refusal.
  • Recent case law has confirmed that there can be limits to flexible working requests where agreeing to them would result in a detrimental effect on your business. In some cases, it may be reasonable for you to put the interests of the business above those of the employee making the request. However, you should take any requests for flexible working seriously and take advice from HR or employment law specialists where you are not sure how you should respond.
  • If it is necessary to refuse a request an employer should ensure that the refusal can be objectively justified, rather than simply being a matter of convenience. An assessment should also be made of whether there is a risk of a discrimination claim arising out of the refusal. The flexible working legislation was not drafted so that it is in line with discrimination legislation, and a lawful refusal of a flexible working request can still potentially be challenged on discrimination grounds.

For more information please contact Gareth Edwards on 0117 314 5220.