Changes To Flexible Working

Posted by the team on 9th July 2014

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From the 30th June 2014, all employees have the legal right to request flexible working. Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs, eg having flexible start and finish times, or working from home.

Employees can apply for flexible working if they’ve worked continuously for the same employer for the last 26 weeks and employers must deal with all requests in a ‘reasonable manner’.

Examples of handling requests in a reasonable manner include:

  • assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the application
  • holding a meeting to discuss the request with the employee
  • offering an appeal process

If an employer doesn’t handle a request in a reasonable manner, the employee can take them to an employment tribunal.

An employer can refuse an application if they have a good business reason for doing so.