When do employees have the right to ask for flexible working?

Along with all other businesses, community pharmacies are being affected by Government initiatives to make the workplace more family friendly.

An example of these initiatives is the extension of the conditions under which an employee is entitled to request a change to their working hours.

Under previous regulations, any employee who has worked continuously for the same employer for longer than 26 weeks, and has a child under the age of five years (or a disabled child under the age of 18 years), was entitled to request a change to their working hours.

This entitlement has now been extended to employees that are caring for, or expecting to care for, an adult to whom they (or their spouse or partner) are related — provided the adult to be cared for lives at the same address.

The application

Employees who wish to apply for flexible working should inform their employer in writing. Flexibility can be achieved via several options:

• The start or finish time of their working day
• Their daily working hours
• The number of hours worked per week
• The number of days worked per week

The application letter should be as detailed as possible and should set out:

• The reasons for the request

• The reasons why the job is suitable for flexible working

• How the employee expects to perform the role if the application is successful

• Reasons why accepting the application will not be detrimental to the business

Any new arrangement can be for a fixed or temporary period, or possibly for a trial period. Once an application has been made, the employer must meet with the employee within 28 days.

The meeting

At the meeting the employer and employee should discuss the application. It may become clear during the meeting that the idea set out in the original application will not work, in which case there may be alternative arrangements which should be discussed.

The employee has the right to be accompanied by a work colleague or trade union representative. It is wise for an employee to do this, and to ask that person to take notes.

The decision letter

The outcome of the meeting must be communicated in writing to the employee. The employer may decide to:

• Accept the application

• Allow the employee to work flexibly, but under different conditions to the original application

• Reject the application

There are several circumstances in which an employer is entitled to reject an employee’s application to work flexibly. Examples of this include when, as a result of accepting the application, the business would:

• Incur too many additional costs

• Suffer a detrimental effect to its ability to meet customer demand

• Be unable to reorganise the employee’s workload among existing staff

If an application is rejected, but the employee believes that he or she has reasonable grounds for requesting a change in working hours, then the employee should seek legal advice.

The appeal

Employees wishing to appeal against the decision must do so by writing to the employer within 14 days of receiving the decision letter. This reply must set out the grounds for appeal.

The employer is obliged to meet the employee to discuss the appeal. Again, the employee is entitled to be accompanied to the meeting by a colleague or trade union representative. The decision of the appeal must be communicated in writing to the employee within 14 days of the hearing, and the rejection can only be upheld on specific grounds.