All eligible employees now have the statutory right to apply to work flexibly and, as an employer, we have a duty to consider these requests. The law defines the statutory procedure that must be followed whenever an eligible employee submits a request for flexible working.
There is no automatic right to work flexibly and there is no statutory duty on the part of an employer to automatically agree to a request. The aim of the statutory procedure is to encourage dialogue between an employer and employee with a view to facilitating agreement on the changes to working arrangements wherever such change is feasible.
Eligibility
You are eligible to make a Flexible Working Request if you are an employee who has 26 weeks’ continuous employment at the date your request is made and you have not made a Flexible Working Request during the last 12 months (even if you withdrew that request).
What is a Flexible Working Request?
You are entitled to request: a) to reduce or vary the hours and/or the days you work; and/or b) a change in your place of work (most usually, to work at home).
In making a request please be mindful that if we grant it, we may still expect you to work core hours (10am to 4pm) on the days you work and you may still have to attend meetings in the office, outside these hours, if required.
Flexible working, whether relating to hours/days or place of work, may not be appropriate for all departments and roles. Requests to work from home for all or part of the working week will be given careful consideration, but will only be agreed if this will not negatively impact the smooth running of your department or the business. If you are permitted to work from home you may still be required to come into the office for meetings or team briefings, if required.
Making a Flexible Working Request
Your Flexible Working Request should be submitted to HR in writing and dated. It should:
- State that it is a Flexible Working Request;
- Explain the change being requested and the proposed start date;
- Identify the impact the change would have on the business and how that might be dealt with; and
- State whether you have made any previous Flexible Working Requests.
A template request form can be obtained from the HR Department.
We may decide to grant your request in full without a meeting, in which case we will write to you with our decision. If we decide to hold a meeting with you to discuss your request, the following section will apply.
Meeting
Our Head of HR will hold a meeting with you and your Line Manager to discuss your request. We are entitled to take up to three months to consider your request, but we will endeavour to do so more quickly. You should therefore ensure that you submit your request well in advance of the date you wish the request to take effect. We will arrange a meeting at a convenient time to discuss your request. Your Line Manager and our Head of HR will attend the meeting on behalf of the company.
You may be accompanied at the meeting by a companion, who may be a co-worker or trade union representative, provided you notify us of this in advance. Your companion must respect the confidentiality of the meeting and failure to do so may constitute misconduct on their part if they are an employee of T&H. A companion may make representations, ask questions, and sum up your position, but will not be allowed to answer questions on your behalf. You may confer privately with your companion at any time during the meeting.
Decision
We will inform you in writing of our decision as soon as possible after the meeting.We may reject your request for one or more of the following business reasons:
- The burden of additional costs to the company;
- The company’s inability to reorganize work amongst existing staff (including other members of your department);
- The company’s inability to recruit additional staff;
- The detrimental impact on the quality of your work;
- The negative effect on the business’ ability to meet customer demand:
- The negative effect on performance (yours, your team / department or wider business);
- The lack of work during the periods that you propose to work; and/or
- Planned changes (including to your department or the business).
If we are unable to agree to your request, we will tell you which of those reasons applies in your case and that you may appeal our decision. You can find out more about the Appeal procedure here.
If your request is accepted, we will write to you with details of the new working arrangements and the date on which they will commence. You will be asked to sign and return a copy of the letter.
We may decide to agree to your request with some amendments. We will discuss these with you and, if agreed, we will confirm them in writing as specified above.
If we cannot immediately agree to your request, we may specify that flexible working arrangements will be allowed on a trial basis for a stated period. After the trial period we will review how the flexible working arrangements have worked for you and the company and we reserve the right to withdraw our permission for the flexible working arrangements or to amend how they will work.
Unless otherwise agreed, changes to your terms of employment will be permanent. If your circumstances change in relation to your need for flexible working, you have no statutory right to return to your previous working arrangements. You will need to make a new Flexible Working Request and we will consider it. Under the statutory procedure, you need to wait 12 months to submit another Flexible Working Request, but we may be willing to consider one made sooner.
If at any time whether following our acceptance of a Flexible Working Request or otherwise, the Company requires a change to the hours or days you work or a change in your place of work, there will be a consultancy process to assess your role and its requirements going forward.
Ad hoc requests for flexible working
Occasionally, there may be days where for personal or work-related reasons you would prefer to work flexibly, either from home or to come in later and leave later or come in early and leave early. You should make such ad hoc requests to your Line Manager, who will consider them within the requirements of your role and the department workload.
If you have a question on any aspect of our Flexible Working Policy please ask our Head of HR.
Last updated: 07/03/19
