Right to Ask for Flexible Working Arrangements (UK)
To be eligible the employee must:
- Have 26 weeks service with their employer
- Be an employee, but not an agency worker or in the armed forces
- Have or expect to have parental responsibility of a child aged 16 or under or a disabled child under 18 who receives Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- Are the parent/guardian/special guardian/foster parent/private foster carer or as the holder of a residence order or the spouse, partner or civil partner of one of these and are applying to care for the child
- Are a carer who cares, or expects to be caring, for an adult who is a spouse, partner, civil partner or relative; or who although not related to you, lives at the same address as you
The scope of flexibility includes:
- Working hours
- Timing of work
- Location
- Any other aspects as may be specified
Typically, flexible arrangements may cover:
- Compressed hours
- Shift work
- Flexitime
- Staggered hours
- Home working
- Annual hours
- Job sharing
- Self-rostering
- Teleworking
- Term-time working
The procedure for an employee to make a request is:
- A formal written request setting out the proposed work pattern and how it could be made to work
- The employer making a practical business assessment on how the flexible working could be arranged
- A meeting between employer and employee within 4 weeks of the request being made. The employee has the right to be accompanied
- The employer writing to the employee within 2 weeks of the meeting accepting the request, or confirming where a compromise has been agreed, or rejecting the request with business reasons
The employee can appeal a negative response and if all internal discussions have failed to resolve the issue, the employee has the right to go to an employment tribunal. Binding mediation and arbitration, including through ACAS, should be available.
