Since June of last year all employees with at least six months service have been entitled to request flexible working. Indicators are that extending the right to all employees, not just those with caring responsibilities, has resulted in only a very small increase in flexible working and those working flexibly remain disproportionately female. This may change for a number of reasons.
The introduction of shared parental leave from April 2015 is designed to achieve a cultural shift whereby it is more usual for men to share childcare.
As the economy picks up, attracting and retaining talent may require more flexibility to be offered and younger employees are more likely to consider flexible working as the norm and expect it as standard. The move away from flexible working as only for women with pre- and school age children is likely to result in a gradual but unstoppable increase in requests.
Employers should prepare to handle requests fairly and most importantly they should develop and consistently apply a policy on flexible working, to include –
- Who is eligible? - all employees with over six month’s service.
- What is flexibility? – changes to working hours; times of work, place of work or a combination, but also consider flexibility over work schedules, such as flexitime hours.
- Will informal requests be considered?
- Procedure – follow the ACAS code of practice, specifically by dealing with requests within three months and making sure employees consider the impact of changes requested on the business and how problems can be addressed.
- Grounds of refusal – formal requests can only be refused on limited grounds set out in the legislation, for example insufficient work during the hours requested and inability to reorganise work among existing staff.
- How competing requests are dealt with or the approach if not all requests can be accommodated – best practice advice is currently that prioritising may give rise to discrimination claims, and a first come first served approach should be preferred.
If you are an employer - be open-minded. You probably have a mixture of staff, from unmarried, through parents and grandparents to staff without children caring for elderly parents. Any of these staff may request flexible working and although there is no right to work flexibly, it is important that you deal with requests fairly, not just to minimise the risks of claims of discrimination or automatically unfair constructive dismissal for example, but also in the interests of your business.
Research suggests that businesses which allow employees to work flexibly see lower illness and absence rates and benefit from a better motivated workforce. Recruitment and retention in an improving market is also likely to require employers to stand out from the crowd to get, and keep, the best.
If you would like to discuss any of these issues further, please contact a member of our Employment team.
