Flexible working arrangements

Flexible working arrangements

We have been seeing an increase in queries about requests for reduction in hours, mostly on return from parental leave.  See our content Flexible working arrangements

Flexible work arrangements can mean changing:

• the times or days an employee works, for example, working part-time instead of full-time, or changing shifts or days of work
• how employees do their work, for example, job-sharing
• where an employee works, for example, from home
• when an employee starts or finishes work.

Employees can make a request in writing:

• anytime from your first day of work
• permanently or for a set time
• for any purpose or reason — for example, caring for children or older parents, playing sport or working in the community.

You, as the employer must:

• acknowledge the request and consider it fairly and in good faith
• reply in writing as soon as possible — no later than 1 month after the request is made (this can be extended if you and the employee agree to a trial period after they make the request)
• only say 'no' for certain reasons (the recognised business grounds or non-accommodation grounds listed below) — these reasons need to be stated if the application is declined. 

When you are considering the request, you should think about:

• How will the change impact other staff?
• Will the change impact negatively on leave requests or holiday periods?
• Will the change have any negative impacts on clients/patients?
• Are there Health and Safety implications?
• Will work need to be re-organised and if so, can this be managed?
• Is the change temporary or permanent?

Some recognised grounds for declining a request for flexible working are:

• 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 employee proposes to work
• planned structural changes
• burden of additional costs
• detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand.

You can also decline if the request if the employee is bound by a collective and the requested change is inconsistent with the terms and conditions of the collective.

If you agree to the request you might wish to suggest you trial the change for 3 months, and the temporary nature of the change should be recorded in a variation document that records the changes and the period the changes are in place for. If the request is to be agreed to on a permanent basis it should be recorded by way of a variation.