Flexible working - who should have the right?
February 28, 2008
At the end of last year the Government announced plans to extend the right to request flexible working to parents of children up to the age of 12 or possibly even older. The current rules under this “family friendly” provision give the right to request flexible working to parents of children aged up to six (18 for disabled children), and were introduced in 2003.
Flexible working involves a change to the employees’ terms and conditions in order for them to more easily accommodate family commitments, and includes measures such as changing the working hours, part time hours, job sharing, home working, term time working and increasing annual leave allowance.
Eligible employees do not have the right to work flexibly – only the right to request this. The employer is not automatically obliged to agree to the change, however it does have a duty to consider the request properly and refusal needs to be on reasonable grounds (e.g. financial). There is a need to carefully consider the options before refusal; the number of discrimination cases (mainly sex discrimination) based on refusals of flexible working requests has been rising in recent years. There are a number of qualifying requirements for employees to be eligible for the right, and a standard process for dealing with requests. For Government guidance on dealing with this right click here to go to the Flexible Working pages on the BERR website.
After the announcement of the plans to change the right, John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) asked Imelda Walsh, Sainsbury’s HR Director to lead an independent review of how the right could be extended, as she has had a lot of experience in dealing with family friendly provisions at the supermarket giant. At the time of the launch of the review, the extension to the right seemed a foregone conclusion with some Ministers promoting the changes and the Conservatives stating that they supported an extension for parents up to the age of 18.
However it was reported last week that Hutton now feels that extending the right may increase the likelihood of requests being turned down. Figures in November reported that 91% of workplaces that received requests in the previous year approved all requests, however extending the right would allow millions more employees to request flexible working, and Hutton warns that employers overwhelmed with new requests may feel they need to refuse everyone. He argues that the right has worked well in the last few years because it is targeted to those parents who need it most – those of younger children. The more employees who have the right, the harder it might be for employers to prioritise those who need flexible working most.
According to reports, the review, which is due to be published in spring, is expected to support Hutton’s comments, which will be good news for the small businesses who have recently criticised the proposals to extend the right; claiming that it is already difficult to cope with requests. However it may not be such good news for parents of children who are still at the age where they need constant supervision, but do not fall into the current legislation.
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