If you are the mother, father, doctor or guardian of a child under six or disabled child under eighteen and have 26 weeks continuous service with your employer, you have the right to make an application to work flexibly.  Your employer has a legal duty to consider your request seriously.

How do I make my request?

You must make your application in writing to your employer, setting out the nature of your request and ensure you make the application well in advance of when you want the change to take effect.  Within 28 days of receiving your application your employer should meet with you to discuss the application and within a further 14 days, write to notify you of their decision.  If your application is rejected, you have 14 days to appeal in writing.

Within 14 days of receiving your written appeal, the employer must meet to discuss with you the appeal and notify you of the decision.  In the event your appeal is rejected in specific circumstances, you may have the right to appeal to an Employment Tribunal.

On what grounds can my Employer refuse my application?

Your application may only be rejected on one or more of eight grounds set out in law.  The letter your employer sends to you rejecting your application must explain the ground(s) for the refusal.  An employer may only refuse a request under one or more of the following grounds:-

1.            Burden of additional cost

2.            Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand

3.            Inability to reorganise work among existing staff

4.            Inability to recruit existing staff

5.            Detrimental impact on quality

6.            Detrimental impact on performance

7.            Insufficiency of work during periods the employee proposes to work

8.            Planned structural changes.

Can my Employer put a time limit on my flexible working arrangement?

No.  Your employer cannot impose a time limit on any arrangement to work flexibly unless you both agree, for example, to allow you both to assess how the new working pattern is working out.   In the event you do not agree a temporary change, the new work pattern will constitute a permanent change to your terms and conditions of employment.

My request has been refused.  When can I reapply?

If you have made a formal request (post 6th April 2003) and your request has been rejected, twelve months must pass from the date of your request before you re-apply. 

What if my request is not taken seriously?

Speak to your employer in the first instance to try to ascertain whether there is a problem with your application. 

It may be simply that there has been a slight misunderstanding of the process or alternatively your employer may not be fully versed in his duties under the present law.

In the event your employer does not consider your request seriously, you may have grounds to make a complaint to an Employment Tribunal.

My partner and I work for the same employer can we both request flexible working?

Yes, the law applies to all eligible parents, both mothers and fathers, as long as you are both making a request to help for your child.

What happens when my child reaches the age 6?

You will continue with your working pattern set at that time. Unless otherwise agreed, once your request for flexible working has been accepted it results in a permanent change to your terms and conditions of employment. There is no automatic right to revert to your previous working pattern nor can you insist on such a reversion.