ukwa 2 cover - United Kingdom Warehousing Association

More documents

Recommendations

Info

24 Human Resources If the employer agrees to the request, this should be confirmed in writing, specifying the date on which the new contractual arrangements will apply and confirming what these arrangements are. Any changes are a permanent change to the terms and conditions unless otherwise agreed Continued from page 23 A "partner" is someone who, in the context of caring for both children and adults, is the other member of a couple consisting of either a man and a woman who are not married to each other but are living together as if they were husband and wife, or two people of the same sex who are not civil partners of each other but are living together as if they were. Interestingly, there is no definition of the nature of care involved - just that the person is involved in "substantial and regular care". BERR suggests that carers may need to help with: • personal care eg dressing or bathing • mobility • nursing tasks eg changing dressings • escorting to medical appointments • household tasks eg shopping, preparing meals. The UK workforce currently has three million carers (1.4m men, 1.7m women). One in five people are predicted to be caring for an elderly or disabled relative by 2010 - when care will affect 60 per cent of households. Eldercare is predicted to replace childcare as the major work-life issue by 2020. However, unlike childcare, which tends to be planned and where the needs can be predicted, the level of assistance and care needed by older people often increases over time and is unpredictable. How to make a request The employee may request a change to his or her contracted hours of work, times of work and/or place of work. A request must be put in writing (email is allowed), it must be signed and dated, must confirm the relationship with the child/person being cared for and must state that it is such an application and confirm that no previous applications have been made in the last 12 months. In addition, the employee is required to specify the working pattern he/she wishes to adopt and to explain the likely impact on the business, including how the request could be accommodated. The employee must also specify when he or she would like that change to take place. You may wish to use our standard request form to help ensure the employee provides all of the necessary information. The employee may request, for example, a change of working hours, a change to the times he/she is required to work or to work from home. Some requests may be minor: for example a delay in the start of working time to accommodate the school run, others may be more significant. The employee should consider his/her request very carefully as only one application can be made each year, and an accepted application will normally mean a permanent change to his/her terms and conditions, unless otherwise agreed. Employees who have been granted more flexible arrangements will not have the right to insist on a return to full-time working (or a return to their previous hours or pattern of working, whatever these were) once their caring responsibilities have ceased or diminished. Therefore any proposals for change should be fully considered, especially where these may result in a drop in salary. The Regulations do seem to allow the parties to agree to a temporary change (if they wish) but many employers would be reluctant to guarantee that employees could revert back to their previous hours in several years' time: however this may be a preferred option in some (limited) cases. Also, a trial period may be agreed. Following receipt of a request Since the timetable is strict for handling such claims, it is good practice to acknowledge receipt of a request in writing. Also do check the employee is eligible to make such a request. If any of the required information is not provided in the request, employers should inform the employee that the application is incomplete and explain what further information is needed. On receipt of a request the employer must arrange a meeting to discuss this with the employee (unless the request is simply accepted and the employee notified in writing of the variation agreed to and the date on which it will take effect). This meeting should take place within 28 days of receipt April 2009 www.<strong>ukwa</strong>.org.uk
Human Resources 25 of the request. If the person who would normally consider the application is on sick or annual leave, the 28 day timescale commences on the day the individual returns. At this meeting, at which the employee may be accompanied by a fellow employee, the employer should discuss how best the request may be accommodated and consider any other alternatives which may be a better solution. Following the meeting, the employer must provide a written decision within 14 days of the date of the meeting. If the employer agrees to the request, this should be confirmed in writing, specifying the date on which the new contractual arrangements will apply and confirming what these arrangements are. Any changes are a permanent change to the terms and conditions unless otherwise agreed. Reasons for refusal There is no automatic right to work flexibly, as there will always be circumstances where the employer is unable to accommodate the requested work pattern. Employers who reject an application will have to write and confirm this, providing a specific business reason, which must be one of those permitted by the legislation, eg: • detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand • inability to reorganise work within available staffing • inability to recruit additional staff • detrimental impact on quality • detrimental impact on performance • burden of additional cost to the business • insufficient work during the period the employee proposes to work • planned structural changes, or • any other such grounds as the Secretary of State may specify by regulations. In addition, sufficient explanation must be included as to why the chosen grounds apply in relation to the employee, together with details of the appeal procedure. Employees can complain if the employer rejects a request based on incorrect facts but cannot complain because they feel the employer's decision is unfair or unreasonable. A tribunal examining a claim will investigate the evidence supporting an employer's decision to reject a request to see whether it is based on incorrect facts and may ask what effect granting the request would have had. So it is advisable to create a papertrail showing your investigations prior to reaching a decision to reject a request and to ensure that you have sufficient evidence to justify your decision. A further word of caution: whilst it may be possible to refuse a request for flexible working under one of the above business reasons, employers still also need to bear in mind indirect discrimination, particularly sex discrimination, which will continue to play an important role in achieving flexible working patterns. A female employee may claim indirect sex discrimination if she feels that her request has been unfairly refused, and discriminates against women: the compensation for this is unlimited and can include an award for injury to feelings. When considering refusing a request, it is also worth calculating the costs of replacement, retraining, loss of experience against any potential inconvenience as well as the employee relations consequences of any refusal. Right to be accompanied The employee may ask to be accompanied by a fellow worker at any meetings held in relation to his/her request. The companion has the right to paid time off during working hours to attend. The companion is allowed to address the meeting (but not to answer questions on behalf of the employee) and to confer with the employee during the meeting. If the chosen companion will not be available at the time proposed for the meeting, the meeting should be postponed until a convenient time can be found within seven days of the date initially proposed by the employer. Neither the employee nor the companion may be subjected to any detriment as a result of the employee seeking to exercise the right to be accompanied. Failure to allow a companion may result in a penalty of up to two weeks' pay if the employee complains to a tribunal. Continued on page 26 There is no automatic right to work flexibly, as there will always be circumstances where the employer is unable to accommodate the requested work pattern www.<strong>ukwa</strong>.org.uk April 2009
Page 1 and 2: Warehouse Official Newsletter of Th
Page 3 and 4: Association News 3 EDITORIAL Founde
Page 5 and 6: Association News 5 MARKETING UKWA t
Page 7 and 8: Make your website your best sales a
Page 9 and 10: Business News 9 Experience of crime
Page 11 and 12: absorbing inspirational involving d
Page 13 and 14: Health & Safety 13 TRAINING The imp
Page 15 and 16: Legal 15 VOSA will immobilise prohi
Page 17 and 18: Legal 17 under that legislation as
Page 19 and 20: Property 19 Attractive markets for
Page 21 and 22: Training 21 by sharpening the minds
Page 23: Human Resources 23 fully, any issue
Page 27 and 28: Human Resources 27 Difficult decisi
Page 29 and 30: Trailers 29 feature but also contri
Page 31 and 32: Environment 31 CARBON TRUST Employe
Page 33 and 34: Warehouse Maintenance 33 laminate f
Page 36 and 37: 36 Cover Story ADVERTISEMENT FEATUR
Page 38 and 39: 38 Industry Viewpoint Vision for th
Page 40: Save Space -(and money) Fast. Optim

ukwa 2 cover - United Kingdom Warehousing Association

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?