Flexible Working
What is flexible working?
Flexible working is an umbrella term used to describe any method of working which deviates from a standard working pattern.
The statutory flexible working scheme is set out in Employment Rights Act 1996 together with Flexible Working Regulations 2014.
The Employment Rights Act 1996 states that an eligible employee may request a change to their employment terms relating to:
- A change to the hours they work
- A change to the times when they are required to work
- A change to their place of work (as between their home and any of the employer’s workplaces)
Common examples include part-time or term-time working, or changes to the working day such as altered start or finish times. However, the term is broad enough to encompass almost any atypical arrangement including, but not limited to, annualised hours, compressed hours, home-working, hybrid-working and shift-working.
Who is eligible to request flexible working?
Since 2014, the right to request flexible working, for any reason, has been available to all employees once they have accrued 26 week’s continuous service at the date the request is made.
Note that a statutory request can only be made by an employee (as opposed to a worker or contractor). Requests cannot be made by agency workers (except for those returning to work from a period of parental leave).
Only one request can be made under the statutory scheme in any 12-month period.
What is the process for requesting flexible working?
The statutory flexible working scheme is supported by the ACAS: Statutory Code of Practice on handling in a reasonable manner requests to work flexibly which sets out best practice.
Essentially, an employer must deal with a request in a ‘reasonable manner’ and respond within a period of three months (unless extended by agreement). A right of appeal against refusal should be offered.
Considering the request ‘reasonably’ is likely to involve meeting with the employee to discuss the request and considering other options if it is not possible to grant the working pattern asked for.
An employer may only refuse a request based on one of eight business reasons specified in the Employment Rights Act namely:
- the burden of additional costs,
- detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand,
- inability to reorganise work among existing staff,
- inability to recruit additional staff,
- detrimental impact on quality,
- detrimental impact on performance,
- insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work; or
- planned structural changes.