The key element with flexible working requests is the word “consideration”.
Any employee has a right to make a flexible working request if they have 26 week’s service. If there is any subsequent dispute surrounding the flexible working request a Tribunal would consider whether you have followed the ACAS procedure and any workplaces policies.
If the request has not been made verbally you should ask for the employee to put it in writing.
Once the request has been made in writing you then to need to discuss it with your employee. This is to ensure that you fully understand what the employee is proposing.
The request needs to considered very carefully and if you cannot agree to the request this needs to be for clear business reasons.
- extra costs that will damage the business
- the work cannot be reorganised among other staff
- people cannot be recruited to do the work
- flexible working will affect quality and performance
- the business will not be able to meet customer demand
- there’s a lack of work to do during the proposed working times
- the business is planning changes to the workforce
- Any decision should be made within 3 months of the request being made. This time can be extended if agreed with the employee.
As flexible working requests are frequently made by women with childcare responsibilities you must ensure that your decisions are not potentially discriminatory. They can also arise in relation to a disabled employee and so can trigger disability discrimination.
Since the pandemic we have seen a significant rise in flexible working requests being used in relation to home working. If they are raised in this way you need to follow the procedure above and apply the specific business reasons to the request being made.