News
Employment Law Update: Flexible Working rights to apply to
parents of school-age children
In a surprise announcement, the Government has said it will
press ahead with proposals to extend the right to request flexible
working arrangements to parents of school-aged children.
The right to request flexible working arrangements currently
applies to 6.25 million employees who are carers of children aged
under 6 (or under 18 if the child is disabled) or adults aged over
18. If implemented, the new right will give the entitlement
to a further 4.5 million employees.
How the right will work in practice
The right to request flexible working arrangements is just that
– a right to make a request and to have it seriously considered by
the employer.
"Flexible working" may include working from home, job-sharing,
or working compressed or different hours. However, the
change, once made, will be permanent – the employee can only make a
further request after a year.
On its part, the employer must follow a strict procedure when
dealing with the request, including meeting with the employee to
discuss it, giving written reasons for any refusal, and giving the
employee the right of appeal.
Employers may refuse a request after considering it, but only
for one of a list of specific reasons.
What the change will mean for employers
- The change will give many more employees the right to request
flexible working arrangements.
- Employers must ensure all managers know what to do when a
request for flexible working arrangements is received.
- Making sure the correct procedure is followed will be the most
difficult part. If the business genuinely cannot accommodate
an employee's request, that is not a problem in itself, but dealing
with it the wrong way is!
- Always call the Telephone Advice Service for advice as soon as
you receive any request.