An overview of the employment seminar from Harrison Clark Rickerbys solicitors, covering the changes made to flexible working. For more information, visit http://www.hcrlaw.com

1. Employment Team Worcester
Breakfast Meeting
Tuesday 1 July 2014
Overstretched?
Flexible Working in 2014
Michael Stokes, Partner
and
Stephenie Malone, Associate Solicitor
Employment Team

2. Flexible Working
• CIPD Flexible Working provision and uptake
survey 2012
– 63% of organisations offer flexible working to
all
• 7/10 large employers
• 59% of medium businesses
• 51% small businesses
• 47% micro businesses

3. The right to request prior to 30 June 2014
• Could be made to care for certain children and adults by
employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service
• A statutory procedure to be followed
• Refusal on one of eight grounds
• Only one request could be made in any 12 month period
• Complaints to a tribunal could be made on the grounds that the
employer has:
– Failed to comply with the statutory procedure
– Refused the request for a reason other than the eight
prescribed reasons
– Based its decision to reject the request on incorrect facts

4. Key changes from 30 June 2014
• All employees with 26 weeks’ continuous
service
• Less prescriptive procedure
• Employer must deal with request in a
reasonable manner
• Can treat request as withdrawn if employee
does not attend meeting without good reason
• Wider grounds to complain to a Tribunal

5. Exercising the statutory right
• Employees
• with 26 weeks’ continuous service;
• who have not made a previous request
within a 12 month period.
• Submit a request in writing which must satisfy
the statutory criteria.

6. What kind of change can be requested?
• 3 broad categories
• A change to hours of work
• A change to the times of work
• A change to the place of work
• Possible work patterns?
• Temporary or permanent?

7. Dealing with the request
• In a reasonable manner;
• No statutory definition;
• Discussion with the employee;
– Changes to the terms and conditions of
employment
– Allow the employee to be accompanied
• Weigh up the benefits for the employer
and the employee

8. Dealing with the request (2)
• The decision period
– 3 months from the date on which the employee
made the request
• Including the decision on an appeal
– Or a longer period that the parties have agreed
• Trial periods
• Variation of the contract once an agreement has
been reached
• Dealing with more than one request at a time?

9. Rejecting or refusing a request
• Rejection
– Does not meet the statutory requirements
– Technically flawed
• Refusal for one of the 8 prescribed reasons
– The 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 period the employee
proposes to work
– Planned structural change

10. Appeals
• Not specifically mentioned in the legislation
BUT
• Part of dealing with the matter in a
reasonable way - ACAS Code
• No prescribed grounds

11. Withdrawing requests
• Employee can withdraw - cannot make another
request under the statutory scheme for 12 months
• The employer can treat the request as withdrawn
where the employee;
• Without good reason fails to arrange the first
meeting and a rearranged meeting without
good reason
• Has appealed and fails to attend the first
meeting and a rearranged meeting to discuss
the appeal without good reason
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12. Interaction with other areas of the
law
• Sex discrimination
• Maternity leave
• Disability discrimination
• Constructive dismissal
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13. Complaints to an Employment
Tribunal
• ET’s role is very restricted
• Cannot question the commercial rationale or the
business reasons for refusing a request
• It will;
• review the procedure;
• consider whether the request was taken seriously;
• consider whether the decision was based on
correct facts
• consider whether the reason given falls within one
of the prescribed grounds
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14. Flexible working request in practice
Example Scenarios
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