Right to Request
Right to request flexible working
The Employment Act 2002 contains provisions giving parents of children under six, or of disabled children, the right to apply to work flexibly. And their employees will have a duty to consider their requests seriously.
The right is a procedure to consider the request. The employer has to arrange a meeting within 28 days to discuss the request and then notify the employee of the decision within 14 days. If the request is refused the employer has the duty to provide an explanation of why and the applicant has the right to appeal.
If it can be shown there has been a failure to adequately consider a right to flexible work request an employment tribunal or ACAS can award compensation.
Right to request flexible working resources
- TUC Flexible working pages
- Tailored Interactive Guide on Employment Rights (TIGER), Flexible working: making an application and Flexible working: the outcome of your application
- ACAS The right to apply for flexible working, A short guide for employers, working parents and carers
- UNISON Flexible working
- NASUWT Right to request flexible working
- USDAW The right to request flexible working briefing
- Working families Factsheet 7 Right To Request
Bosses refuse home work requests Most employers turn down requests from their staff to work from home, new research has found. The survey, by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) with accounting firm KPMG, found that 69 per cent 'never or occasionally' grant home working requests. CIPD news release • Personnel Today • Shropshire Star.
Flexible work career fear People are not taking up their right to request flexible working for fear it will damage their career prospects, research for the charity Working Families has found. The Flexible Working and Performance study of 3,500 employees found 71 per cent had made informal flexible working arrangements rather than using the formal right to request, with many employees believing that operating remotely or on reduced hours meant being excluded from promotion opportunities. Cranfield School of Management news release • Personnel Today
Click here to view the TUC Changing Times flexible working pages
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