Right to request flexible working changes: 10 things employers can learn from case law

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The extension of the right to request flexible working from 30 June 2014 to all employees with 26 weeks' service will inevitably mean that employers will have to deal with more employees wanting to change their working arrangements. We look at what organisations can learn about flexible working requests from previous case law.

1. Ignore flexible working requests at your peril

Claims can arise if the employer ignores the flexible working request altogether. In Clayton Brown v Cumbria County Council, the employment tribunal found that an employer had failed to respond to the formal right to request flexible working by an employee who had returned from maternity leave and that she had been forced to resign because of the uncertain situation in which this left her.

2. Train line managers in handling flexible working requests

In many cases, problems with flexible working originate with line managers, who should be instructed in how to deal with requests. In Wolstencroft v Waste Recycling Group Ltd, a manager's disastrous mishandling of an application for flexible working meant that an employee resigned and successfully claimed constructive dismissal.

3. A refusal of a flexible working request following maternity lea