Working 9 to 5  

Tayside employers are bracing themselves for an onslaught of staff wishing to work flexible hours, following the announcement of new Government plans.
 
At present, parents of children up to six years of age years (18 years if disabled) have the right to request flexible hours after just six months’ service.  The employer has a duty to consider the request and either grant it or give a justified reason to refuse it.  The right to request will be extended to parents with children up to 16 years of age, potentially affecting nearly five million people throughout the UK. The Government will now consult on how these proposals can be implemented with a view to implementing them in April 2009.

When the plans were announced, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, "A lot of employers will welcome it. Flexible working is the right to request flexible working, it is not an automatic right to flexible working."

Employers will need to consider the request and have a meeting with the employee.  They must reasonably justify refusing a request.  Reasons for refusal may include a detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand or the inability to re-organise work among existing staff. There may also be an inability to recruit additional staff, detrimental impact on quality and performance or insufficient work during the periods the employee proposes to work. Planned structural changes within the organisation may also be taken into account in any refusal.

If refused, employees will have the right to appeal against the decision.  If employers breech this procedure, they may have to pay the employee compensation of up to eight weeks pay.

Studies by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have shown that flexible working does improve productivity but employers should give serious consideration to whether or not their business can sustain a flexible working environment.   For example, it’s expected that most parents will want to work around school times. As a result, this could leave employers short-staffed before 9.30am and after 3pm. The summer holidays may also be difficult to cover.
 
Flexible working policies will have to be implemented to reflect the changes when they are enforced, which is likely to be October 2009.  The policy should give clear guidance to employees on how to make the request and explain the process of how a decision will be made and communicated back to the employee.  It will also outline the rights to appeal against the decision of the employer. 

Disclaimer:
While every care has been taken in compiling these guidelines, Simple Corporate Resource Solutions cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions; the notes are not intended to be a substitute for specific legal advice.