2014-06

Flexible Working for All?
It’s fair to say that more
employees are working
‘flexibly’ than ever before. For
some, changing work patterns are
imposed by the requirements of
the job.
There may be a need to cover
different shifts, or, because
of financial pressures on the
business, employees may be
asked to lose a day’s work (and
the pay that goes with it). But an
increasing number of people are
actively seeking to adopt a variety
of flexible working practices, from
working part-time or job-sharing,
through to working from
home or term-time
working, and
so on.
Although
there is no
legal right to
work flexibly,
there is a
statutory right
to request to
do so. Up to
now, this right
to request has
been available
only to parents and carers, who
are most likely to want to work
flexibly. Having had to finish
off some work during my son’s
saxophone lesson just now, I’ve
got first hand experience of this.
But from June 30 all employees
will have the right to request
flexible working, so long as
they have completed 26 weeks’
service, under the Children and
Families Act 2014. So, if you
fancy taking a career break to go
round the world, or taking a day
off a week to do that scuba diving
course, now’s your chance.
Having said that, it’s still only
a right to request, and only one
request can be made in any
12-month period. Under the new
regime, employers have a duty
to deal with such a request in a
‘reasonable’ manner, within three
months of the request being made
(unless the employee agrees
to an extension). But, as under
the old system, employers can
reject an employee’s request
for any one of eight statutory
‘business reasons’. These are:
the burden of additional costs;
an inability to reorganise work
among existing staff; an inability
to recruit additional staff; a
detrimental impact on quality; a
detrimental effect on the
business’ ability to
meet customer
demand; a
detrimental impact
on performance;
insufficient work
during the periods
the employee
is proposing
to work; and
planned
structural
changes.
ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation
and Arbitration Service) has
published a Code of Practice and
guidance on flexible working to
help employers deal with the new
system. Effectively, employers
will have to weigh up the benefits
of the request for the employee
and the business, against any
adverse business impact of
implementing the change. The
employer can just say no. But if
an employer allows requests by
some employees and not others,
it will have to be careful that it’s
not engaging in any unlawful
discrimination in doing so.
Amy Hole
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