< Previous 1 2

Q. One of my employees has let it be known that they are going to ask for reduced work hours to help with childcare. They do not have the right in their contract of employment to reduce their hours. Operationally we are not sure we could cope. What rights do we have?

Many people don’t realise that to go from full time to part time working, where children are involved, falls within the legislative rights of an employee to request flexible working. If the employee does make a request then there is a statutory application process that both the employee & employer must follow.

Firstly they need to apply in writing at least two weeks before their child's 6th birthday or 18th birthday if the child is disabled (This is likely to change in the current political climate with all major parties supporting rights for all parents) The application must be dated and state that it is made under the statutory right to request a flexible working pattern. It must state when they want the pattern to start, full details of how it will work, how it will affect the business and how such effects could be dealt with. It must also confirm the relationship they have with the child they are responsible for. There are standard forms to give all of this information through the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. 

As an employer once this formal process has begun, you must meet the employee to discuss the application within 28 days. At this meeting you may suggest alternatives toe the proposed working pattern or suggest trial periods but you must consider the request properly and be sure to avoid any possible discrimination eg. racial or sexual.

You must let the employee know the decision within 14 days of the meeting. If you deny the request then you must explain fully the business reasons which must be one of the following

• Burden of additional costs.
• Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand.
• Inability to reorganise work among existing staff.
• Inability to recruit additional staff.
• Detrimental impact on quality.
• Detrimental impact on performance.
• Insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work.
• Planned structural changes.

The employee may appeal and another meeting must than take place within 14 days, discussion held and final notification made less than 14 days after. Should the employee disagree or feel the process has not taken place along these lines then options to go to tribunal or arbitration are available.

Q. An office based member of my staff has requested to work from home. What are the pros and cons?

In our experience there is no hard and fast answer and you will have to make an overall judgement.
 
The main advantage would be that of greater motivation and commitment from the member of staff concerned through

• Reduced travelling time and costs.   
• More flexibility to balance work and home life.
• More control over work
• Increased job satisfaction

From your point of view setup costs, e.g. computing and communications, are reducing all the time due to improvements in technology. You may find that you get higher productivity from the individual as they have fewer interruptions than usually occur in the normal office environment.

Drawbacks may include:

• Social isolation, not being part of “the team”, reduced face to face communication.
• Reduced general knowledge of the organisation and developments within it.
• Difficulty separating work from home life.
• Lack of control by the business over its employee

 Is it possible for you to consider a compromise, to reorganise work to allow the employee to attend the workplace on specified days within the week, whilst still allowing some homeworking?

Q. In principle I believe that annualised hours would work well in our business but I have heard that it is too rigid?

It is true there are annual hours schemes in existence that do not allow for change within the year. They are generally not the better schemes. Those implemented with our assistance have built in review processes that allow for changes from both the business and employees. One example where this reassessment has been used to good effect is at Smith & Nephew. A good design will allow for short term emergencies or “hiccups” to what has been planned.

It is our experience that annual hours schemes have far more flexibility than traditional working as they allow for a much longer time period to manage changes. Indeed, any time scale longer than the traditional week can be beneficial. One of our clients, Jersey Harbours, recently introduced a flexible working system based on a 5 week cycle.

Q. I understand there have been recent changes in rest breaks in drivers time, can you clarify what the rules are?

Yes, there have been recent changes. The Drivers Working Time Regulations state that after no more than 4.5 hours driving a break must be taken. Breaks must be at least 45 minutes after this amount of driving. This break may now be replaced by a break of at least 15 minutes followed by a break of at least 30 minutes, each distributed over the period. It is important to note that the regulations require that working time must be "interrupted" by breaks. This means that you must resume work after any breaks have been taken so they cannot be taken at the end of a shift.

< Previous 1 2