Chamber HR : How To Handle A Flexible Working Request
From April this year, all employees will have the right to request flexible working from their employer, from day one of their employment. Currently, the right only applies for those who have worked for a company for 26 weeks or more.
Sarah Darbyshire FCIPD- HR Consultant and Director
HR Solutions Yorkshire Limited
Flexible working includes, but is not limited to part time working, hybrid working, flexitime, core hours, working from home, job sharing, annualised hours or compressed hours.
Employees will be able to make up to 2 requests in a 12-month period. Requests should be put in writing, making it clear that the employee is making a statutory request for flexible working.
Flexible working can provide benefits for both you and your employees – it can help to attract, recruit and retain staff, helps address labour and skills shortages, creates more inclusive and diverse workforces, reduce staff absence levels and increase employee engagement and productivity.
So, what should you do if you receive a request from one of your team:
If the request is straightforward and you can agree to it without the need to discuss it – perhaps you have already had an informal chat about it – you can confirm your agreement in writing, including what the changes are, when the changes will take place, and the impact on terms and conditions of employment such as salary, holiday entitlement and other benefits.
Otherwise, you need to go through the following process – this needs to be completed within a 2-month period, unless you agree to an extension with the employee:
Invite the employee to a meeting to discuss their request in more detail. Whilst they are not legally entitled to be accompanied at this meeting, in the interest of good employee relations, I normally allow them to bring a current work colleague for support. You can hold the meeting in person or remotely. To allow both you and the employee to prepare for the meeting, I recommend giving them a couple of days’ notice.
Sometimes what an employee has asked for, eg they would like to reduce their working week to 4 days from full time, cannot be accommodated as requested due to other commitments within the team. If this is the case, explore whether there is a compromise – if they have asked for Fridays to be their non-working day, and you already have reduced cover on that day, could they take a different day off each week?
In some cases, I have also advised that a review period is introduced to see how the new working arrangement works out for the business and the employee – this will normally require an agreed extension to the 2-month period for dealing with the request.
It is also important to explore whether the employee is asking for a reasonable adjustment in relation to a disability or a health condition for example.
After the meeting, you will need to write to them with your decision. If you agree to the request, set out what the changes are, the effective date of the changes, and the impact on terms and conditions.
If you are rejecting their request, this will need to be on one or more of the grounds set out in the legislation –
The burden of additional costs
An inability to reorganize work against amongst existing staff
An inability to recruit additional staff
A detrimental impact on quality and/or performance
A detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
Insufficient work available for the periods the employee proposes to work
Planned structural changes to your business
Whilst there is no statutory right of appeal, it is good practice to allow the employee to appeal.
For more information, please contact Sarah Darbyshire at HR Solutions Yorkshire
