Managing flexible working requests: employers can reject a request for flexible working

According to the Flexible Working Regulations 2002 an eligible employee has the right to request flexible working and an employer has a duty to consider their request.

An employee has to meet certain criteria to have this right:

• A child 16 years and under OR
• A disabled child under 18 years OR
• Carer of an adult AND
• 26 weeks employment AND
• No such request for last 12 months

If eligible, an employee can apply to work flexibly and their application must be considered properly in accordance with a set procedure and refused only where there is a clear business ground for doing so and where that reason is properly explained.

An employer MUST consider the request and act within certain guidelines of due process. However they may refuse the request for good business reasons which must fall in the following areas:

• Burden of additional costs
• Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
• Inability to reorganise work among existing staff
• Inability to recruit additional staff
• Detrimental impact on quality
• Detrimental impact on performance
• Insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work
• Planned structural changes

The full process for managing flexible working requests is detailed in the Beyond 9to5 “Managing Flexible Working Requests Toolkit” which is free to members of the Beyond 9to5 portal.