Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

New flexible working right becomes closer

by Personnel Today 3 Sep 2002
by Personnel Today 3 Sep 2002

As of next year, employees with children will be able to legally claim
flexible working rights to spend more time with their kids

Is your business ready for employees’ right to request flexible working in
April 2003? The DTI has published draft regulations for consultation.

As expected, your staff will need six months’ service before they can make
an application. Along with natural parents, the rule also applies to adopters,
guardians, foster parents, and anyone married to such a person, or who lives
with them as a family. This means the new right could even apply to someone in
a same-sex relationship.

To be eligible, the employee simply has to show they are caring for a child
aged under six or, if disabled, under 18. There is currently no provision for
employers to verify that the employee actually meets these eligibility
requirements.

Starting the process

The employee will start the process by making a written application to the
company. This must explain what kind of flexible working they want, what the
effect might be on the company and how this could be dealt with.

If the employer objects, they must hold a meeting with the employee to
discuss the matter within 28 days, but this date can be extended if the person
who normally deals with the applications is temporarily absent. The company
must then communicate its decision in writing within 14 days.

To refuse a request, an employer must have a defined business reason. These
are varied and include cost, performance and problems of reorganisation. If the
flexible working arrangement does not suit the business, it should not be
difficult to find allowable grounds for refusal.

The employee has 14 days to appeal. Unless the company caves in, it must
hold another meeting to assess the second application within 14 days. It then has
a further 14 days to inform the employee of its decision in writing. Once
again, this must be accompanied with a justification of the reasons.

Disappointed employees must wait 12 months before applying again. These time
limits can be extended by agreement if the company confirms the changes in
writing. The employee will have the right to be accompanied in the meetings.

Employers liability

The key will be to follow the procedure. Most of the grounds for complaint
to a tribunal will be that the correct procedure has not been followed. The
employee can also complain if the company has based its decision on incorrect
facts.

A company does not need to balance its needs against those of the employee,
as there is no requirement for reasonableness. In fact, it will be far easier
for companies to resist changes than under indirect sex discrimination law.
But, if companies do reject applications, they could then face indirect sex
discrimination claims, so they need to be careful. The maximum penalty for
non-compliance is still the subject of DTI consultation.

Companies should now be drafting internal procedures which establish who
staff should send their applications to and how the company will deal with
them. They should also consider changing contractual terms to protect
themselves against the risks of flexible working. Home working can have
implications for health and safety, insurance, data protection and
confidentiality of information, for example.

The company may also want to trial the flexible working arrangement or
terminate it after the child reaches its sixth birthday. If you do not include
such rights, the new working arrangement will be indefinite. As a result, firms
should consider policies that cover different flexible working arrangements.

Key points

– Be prepared for the new right by drafting appropriate procedures

– Consider the changes which you will need for employment contracts for
flexible workers

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

– React proactively to get the best working arrangement for the business

By Jill Kelly, an associate with Clarks Employment Team, Reading

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Firemen plan protest at pay peace talks
next post
Agency Directive will put a stop to temp-to perm route

You may also like

Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders receive 400% pay rise

4 Jul 2025

FCA to extend misconduct rules beyond banks

2 Jul 2025

‘Decisive action’ needed to boost workers’ pensions

2 Jul 2025

Business leaders’ drop in confidence impacts headcount

2 Jul 2025

Why we need to rethink soft skills in...

1 Jul 2025

Five misconceptions about hiring refugees

20 Jun 2025

Forward features list 2025 – submitting content to...

23 Nov 2024

Features list 2021 – submitting content to Personnel...

1 Sep 2020

Large firms have no plans to bring all...

26 Aug 2020

A typical work-from-home lunch: crisps

24 Aug 2020

  • Empower and engage for the future: A revolution in talent development (webinar) WEBINAR | As organisations strive...Read more
  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+