Employees seeking a better balance between the demands of work and personal life may seek a change in their working arrangements – such as part-time work, job-sharing, or a change in working hours. While there is no right to insist on working in a different manner, there is a statutory obligation to request a flexible working arrangement and to have that request seriously considered.
The right to make such a request is applicable to all employees from day one of employment (not just those with caring responsibilities). Employees can ask for changes to hours, times and location of work and a request can be made for any reason. This covers work patterns such as part-time working, job-sharing, compressed hours, flexitime, home-working, remote working, term-time working and annualised hours. The right is supported by a statutory Acas Code of Practice on requests for flexible working.
Employers do not have to agree to an employee working flexibly if there is a sound business reason for not granting the request. The process must be concluded within two months (unless an extension is agreed) and can only refuse on one of the following grounds:
If an employer’s reason doesn’t fall into one of these areas, an employee could make a claim at an employment tribunal.
It is important for employers to be aware of the danger of claims under the Equality Act 2010, based on protected characteristics such as sex, race, age, and disability. In some instances, a flexible working arrangement may be a “reasonable adjustment” for a disabled employee, meaning the employer will be in breach of its duty under the Equality Act if the request is rejected. It is necessary to obtain medical advice on adjustments for disability, which can make it difficult to comply with the two month deadline for addressing the request. It is essential to identify this early and agree an extension to the time limit with the employee if necessary.
Another example might be an age discrimination e.g. an employee who is not allowed to work part-time in the run-up to retirement, but similar requests by younger employees for childcare reasons have been regarded more favourably.
A significant risk for employers continues to be the refusal of flexible working requests by employees with caring responsibilities – particularly women returning from maternity leave – leading to claims of indirect sex discrimination.
An employer will be in a position to refuse a request from a female employee who wishes to work flexibly if it can objectively justify its practice of requiring full-time working. There have been numerous cases involving women with young children in which employers have sought to justify such a refusal with inconsistent and unpredictable results.
Employers are much more likely to be able to justify the refusal if they have consulted fully with the employee before rejecting the request. The employer should seek to find ways around its concerns before rejecting a request. Any blanket policy not to allow flexible working is almost certainly going to be unlawfully discriminatory.
Some jobs can be done flexibly by reducing the amount of time, other jobs may require full-time commitment but be capable of job-sharing. One possible reason for refusing a request to work part-time would be an inability to locate a suitable job-sharing partner.
Following a change to the Equality Act in January 2024, a male employee wanting to work flexibly for caring reasons may also now be able to claim indirect sex discrimination, if he can show that female employees are disadvantaged and he suffers the same disadvantage.
Therefore, employers should consider any flexible working request, consider compromise solutions and engage in meaningful consultation with the employee – even if you believe that the request will have to be dismissed. If you are unsure, consider agreeing to the proposed arrangement for a temporary or trial period.
Since April 2011, all employees have the right to request time off for training or studying relevant to the business if they have more than 26 weeks’ continuous service. Employers have to follow a right to request time off for training procedure and do not have to fund the training or pay the employee while they attend training courses.
The right to request time off for training has a similar procedure to the right to request flexible working:-Employers must either accept or arrange a meeting with the employee making the request for time off for training within 28 days
Grounds for refusal may include:-
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