Would you like to go part-time, do a job share, change your working hours or work more often from home? Find out what the new UK law says on flexible working.
What is flexible working – in the law?
The Employment Act 2002 introduced new employment legislation designed to help working parents with new options to flexible working. In this act flexible working is defined as any working pattern other than normal working pattern, whether this be changes to the hours an employee works, the times when the employee is required to work or working from home.
Who, legally, has the right to apply?
Parents of children aged under six or of disabled children aged under 18 have the right to apply to work flexibly. In such circumstances employers are under a statutory duty to consider employee’s applications seriously. Any such application must be in writing and give a clear plan of how the new pattern would work, showing that the changes will not harm the business.
This right enables mothers and fathers to request to work flexibly. It does not provide an automatic right to work flexibly as there will always be circumstances when the employer is unable to accommodate a request for a desired work pattern. The right is designed to meet the needs of both parents and employers. It aims to facilitate discussions and encourage both the employee and the employer to consider flexible working patterns and to find a solution that suits them both. The employee has a responsibility to think carefully about their desired working pattern when making an application and the employer is required to follow a specific procedure to ensure requests are considered seriously.
Eligibility
In order to make a request under the new right the parent must:
- Be an employee
- Have a child under six or under 18 in the case of a disabled child
- Have been continuously employed by the employer for at least 26 weeks at the date the application is made
- Make the application no later than two weeks before the child’s sixth birthday or 18th birthday in the case of a disabled child
- Have or expect to have responsibility for the child’s upbringing
- Be making the application to enable the parent to care for the child
- Not be an agency worker
- Not have made another application to work flexibly under the right during the previous 12 months
The application can only be made to assist the employee in caring for a child (for example to enable the parent to spend more time with his or her children to enable him or her to drop their children at school) and for no other purpose.
Both mothers and fathers, whether they are the biological parents, legal guardians or adoptive parents can make the application. Spouses or partners of such employees are also eligible, including spouses or partners of the same as long as they have or expect to have responsibility for the upbringing of the child.
Eligible employees are able to request:
- A change to the hours they work
- A change to the times when they are required to work
- To work from home (whether for all or part of the week)
This covers working patters such as annualised hours, compressed hours, flexitime, home working, job-sharing, self-rostering, shift working, staggered hours and term-time working.
Flexible working – government policy
It is encouraging to find that the Government believes that flexible working should be available to everyone. The Equality Strategy – Building a Fairer Britain report published in December 2010 acknowledges that the best businesses already understand that offering flexible working makes good business sense and helps to attract and retain the best staff.
Remember, flexible working not only allows you more flexibility, it also brings business benefits to your employer and allows all businesses to adapt working patterns to their needs, rather than fitting in the business to a restrictive 9-5.
Author: Avinder Laroya, invites you to contact her for any queries regarding the law on this subject or detailed advice. Avinder is partner at Serenity Law LLP. They are a full service commercial law firm offering company and commercial, employment, dispute resolution, intellectual property, real estate and immigration legal services to businesses and entrepreneurs ranging from start-ups to public companies. They are also very much a “green” business relying upon modern technology to limit environmental waste and of course encourage flexible working!
Email: alaroya@serenitylaw.co.uk, 0800 019 7773
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