Flexible Working – a useful guide for HR & employees
The business recognises that in various stages in your working life, domestic, family and other commitments potentially reduce or hinder your ability to fulfil work responsibilities. Where such conflicts cannot be resolved this could result in the business losing employees.
To prevent the loss of skilled experienced colleagues, the business not only acknowledge these conflicts, but may also be able to offer practical help.
Who can make a request?
Anyone with over 26 weeks continuous service at the time their application is made is eligible to apply for flexible working.
You may only make one application to work flexibly during a 12-month period.
What changes can you request?
You may request a change to:
- Your hours of work
- The times when you are required to work
- Where you are required to work; or
- Such other aspect of your terms and conditions of employment, as specified by statute.
How do you make an application?
Should you wish to make an application, it must be submitted in writing to the HR Department. Only one application can be made in a 12-month period and an accepted application will mean a permanent change to your terms and conditions of employment.
When submitting an application, you should consider the working pattern or other changes you are requesting, together with any financial implications of the requested change and the effects it might have on us and how these effects might be accommodated.
What are the Company’s duties?
The HR department will arrange a meeting with you to discuss the situation in detail, including the desired work pattern and how it might be accommodated, together with other possible alternatives, should the desired pattern not feasible. You will be entitled to bring a work colleague to this meeting, should you so wish.
After the meeting the HR department will respond in writing, in a timely manner, either agreeing to the new work pattern together with a date of when the new working pattern will start or providing clear business reasons why the application cannot be accepted.
The request may be rejected for one or more of the following business reasons:
- The burden of additional costs
- Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
- Inability to reorganise work amongst existing employees
- Detrimental impact on quality
- Detrimental impact on performance
- Insufficiency of work during the periods that the employee proposes to work
- Planned structural changes; or
- Such other grounds in the refusal of the application.
Further, we will notify you of the appeal process should you be dissatisfied with the decision reached.
How does the appeal process work?
You will be able to appeal any decision within 7 days of it being notified to you. This appeal should be made in writing and dated; set out the grounds of appeal; and be sent to the HR department.
We will then hold a further meeting with you to discuss the grounds of your appeal.
You may be accompanied by a work colleague if you so wish.
You will be notified of our decision on the appeal in writing in a timely manner.
Timescales to deal with requests
All requests for flexible working, including any appeal process, should be considered and concluded within 3 months from initial receipt of the request, unless an extension is agreed with the employee.
Please click on the following links for the government and ACAS websites that you may find useful
If you wold like to discuss flexible working further, please get in touch
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