An estimated 10 million employees are entitled to request
flexible working and the number likely to utilise this right
is set to rise as greater numbers of working parents struggle to
cover the cost of childcare over the looming school summer
holiday period.
In anticipation, employers are being advised to ensure they are
up-to-speed with the new laws surrounding employees' rights to
flexible working, as Simon Bond, head of employment
at Midlands law firm Challinors, explains: "With summer
approaching, many parents will be considering how to balance
spending more time with their children against covering the
cost of holiday clubs and childcare and flexible working
is one route many are sure to explore.
"Flexible working can cover a lot of different arrangements such
as working part time, working from home, job sharing and flexi
time. In some instances a fixed period of flexible working may
be agreed, after which the employee could return to their
normal working hours.
"According to national statistics, there are around 11.5 million
children under the age of 16 in the UK, whilst research
commissioned by the government now indicates that 50 percent of
working women do not spend as much time with their children as
they would like," he says.
"Since 2003, parents of children under the age of six or
disabled children under the age of 18 have had the right to
ask their employer for flexible working hours and this right was
extended on 6th April 2009 to cover parents with children
under the age of 17.
"Employers should know that the regulations do not entitle staff
to flexible working, only to request it, but an estimated 10
million employees are now entitled to request flexible
working."
Applications for flexible working must meet a set of criteria
for both employees and employers, before the request is
considered, as Simon explains: "Employees must have been
continuously employed for 26 weeks and the request must be
made in writing. Employers must consider every application and
may accept the proposal based on the written request. To discuss
the matter further, employers must arrange a meeting with the
employee within 28 days of the request.
"Employers can refuse applications based on a variety of
business grounds such as the burden of additional costs and
inability to reorganise work amongst other employees."
Simon adds: "Employers should try to offer as much flexibility
as possible but if a request will be detrimental to the
business then the request can be denied. Offering employees more
flexibility could have the effect of improving morale and
staff loyalty. It may even help to cut down costs and offer an
alternative to redundancy which could be a huge benefit to
businesses especially in the current economic
climate."
Challinors has offices in Birmingham, West Bromwich and
Nottingham. The firm has 23 partners and over 100 fee earners,
and is ranked as one of the top legal firms in the West Midlands,
being Number 1 in the Chambers UK Directory in a number of
categories.