Extension of the Right to Request Flexible Working

Whilst anyone can ask their employer for more flexible working arrangements, at the moment only parents and others (such as guardians) who are responsible for looking after children under the age of six years (or 18 years if the child is disabled) and those with caring responsibilities for adult relatives have the legal right to request to work flexible hours, provided they have worked for their employer for 26 weeks continuously before the application is made. The employer is obliged to take the request seriously and must follow a set procedure and timetable. An employer can only refuse such a request if they can demonstrate a clear business reason for doing so.

The Government plans to extend this right to those with children up to age 16, as recommended in an independent review carried out by Imelda Walsh, the HR Director of Sainsbury’s. This will mean that an extra 4.5 million parents in Britain will gain the right to request flexible working. Reports that the implementation of this measure was to be delayed, in order to help businesses survive the economic downturn, proved to be inaccurate. The Government did consider delaying it but decided that its implementation would give employers and staff ‘valuable flexibility’ and could keep businesses profitable and people in work. The move will therefore go ahead as planned in April 2009.

If you receive a request for flexible working arrangements and would like individual advice, contact:

Telephone: +44 (0) 1753 486 777 (Slough Office)
Telephone: +44 (0) 1189 596031 (Reading Office)