Flexible friends
Above: Simon Warley, of Whitehead Monckton Solicitors (Kent Life Magazine)
We all want to spend less time in the office and more time at home with our families. Thankfully, this is going to be possibility for more people than you might think.
Under existing law, parents of children under six years old and carers of disabled children of 18 years or under have the right to request flexible working arrangements, from their employer to assist them in raising their families. It is estimated that this right applies to 3.6 million employees in the UK.
From April 2009 onwards, this right to request flexible working is likely to be extended to all employees who have children up to the age of 16, once they have been in a job for at least six months.
The change will affect all employers and there will be no exemption for small businesses. It is estimated that an additional 4.5 million employees will acquire the right to request flexible working arrangements from their employer. Many businesses are expecting a substantial increase in the number of such requests from April 2009 onwards. It is important that businesses start taking action now in preparation for April next year.
Flexible working policies
Employers have a number of options as to how they can deal with this issue. The first is to respond on an individual basis to each request for flexible working. For smaller employers or businesses with few eligible employees, such an approach may be sufficient.
However, certain employers, due to the size of their workforce and the nature of their business may well face numerous requests for flexible working. In those circumstances, dealing with each request on an individual basis will be time consuming for managers and, in addition, a failure to treat requests consistently could cause significant disruption in the work place and might also leave the employer open to potential constructive dismissal or discrimination claims.
For many businesses, it might be more effective for them to develop a specific flexible working policy. There are certain roles in most businesses that can accommodate flexible working more easily than others.
Employers may wish to consider which parts of their business structure could accommodate flexible working arrangements and create a range of flexible working options that employees can request, together with a framework that managers can operate when considering and responding to such requests.
This will avoid managers having to “reinvent the wheel” every time a request for flexible working is made by an employee, and would lead to less management time being expended in this area. In addition, the existence of a clear company policy on flexible working will make it harder for disgruntled employees, who have had their requests turned down, to complain of unfavourable treatment in comparison to other employees whose requests were granted.
Procedures
Employers must ensure that they follow the correct procedure in responding to any requests for flexible working. Requests should be dealt with fairly and quickly. Employers must hold a meeting with the employee who has made the request within 28 days and must notify the employee of its decision within 14 days of the meeting. Employers must also be prepared to hear appeals against any decision not to grant a request. Employers must give serious consideration to each request and explain their decision, and the reasons for it, to the employee. It is advisable that this is done in writing.
It is important that employers are able to show that each request has been carefully and seriously considered and in particular if a request has been rejected that there were justifiable business reasons for doing so.
Finally, employers must maintain clear, detailed and up-to-date records of all requests received and of their responses to them. This, together with the following of a fair procedure as outlined above, will reduce the risk of employees bringing time consuming and expensive Employment Tribunal claims against the employer and will also increase the employer’s chances of successfully defending such claims.