Flex­ible Work­ing Re­quest

Flex­ible work­ing is in­creas­ingly pop­u­lar due to its be­ne­fits in im­prov­ing work-life bal­ance, re­du­cing com­muting time, and po­ten­tially in­creas­ing pro­ductiv­ity and job sat­is­fac­tion.

The re­search show­ing that about 60% of em­ploy­ees cur­rently have some form of flex­ible work­ing ar­range­ment. This in­cludes op­tions like ad­justing start and finish times, com­pressed hours, job shar­ing, or work­ing re­motely. The demand for flex­ible work­ing has grown since the COVID-19 pan­demic, with 40% of or­gan­isa­tions seeing an in­crease in re­quests for such ar­range­ments.

For em­ploy­ers, of­fer­ing flex­ible work­ing can also help with talent re­ten­tion and re­cruit­ment. In fact, around 71% of job seekers con­sider flex­ible work­ing im­port­ant when eval­u­at­ing new roles.

The UK Gov­ern­ment is moving to­wards making the right to re­quest flex­ible work­ing avail­able from day one of em­ploy­ment, rather than after six months, which could fur­ther in­crease its ad­op­tion across sec­tors.

What is Flex­ible Work­ing?

Flex­ible work­ing refers to a work­ing ar­range­ment that allows em­ploy­ees to adjust their work sched­ules, loc­a­tions, or pat­terns to better suit their per­son­al needs or cir­cum­stances.

This could in­clude changes to:

• the number of hours worked,
• the time work is per­formed (such as flex­ible start and end times), or
• the place of work (such as work­ing from home or a remote loc­a­tion).

In the UK, em­ploy­ees have the legal right to re­quest flex­ible work­ing from the day one they start work­ing in the com­pany. This right ap­plies to all em­ploy­ees, not just par­ents or carers.

The re­quest can in­volve ad­just­ments like part-time work, job shar­ing, com­pressed hours, or staggered work­ing hours. Em­ploy­ers are re­quired to handle re­quests in a "reas­on­able manner" but may reject re­quests if there are le­git­im­ate business reas­ons, such as a neg­at­ive impact on per­form­ance or cost.

Flex­ible Work­ing Changes in 2024

From 6 April 2024, sig­ni­fic­ant changes to flex­ible work­ing laws in the UK took effect, giving em­ploy­ees greater rights.

One of the major up­dates is that the right to re­quest flex­ible work­ing will become avail­able from day one of em­ploy­ment, re­mov­ing the pre­vi­ous re­quire­ment of 26 weeks of con­tinu­ous ser­vice. This means that em­ploy­ees can im­me­di­ately re­quest ad­just­ments to their work­ing hours, loc­a­tion, or pat­terns as soon as they start a new job.

Other Key Changes to Flex­ible Work­ing In­clude:

• Two re­quests per year: Em­ploy­ees can now submit up to two flex­ible work­ing re­quests within a 12-month period, com­pared to just one pre­vi­ously.
• Shortened re­sponse time: Em­ploy­ers must re­spond to flex­ible work­ing re­quests within two months, down from the pre­vi­ous three months.
• Man­dat­ory con­sulta­tion: Em­ploy­ers are re­quired to con­sult with the em­ployee before re­ject­ing a re­quest, en­sur­ing that reas­on­able dis­cus­sions and con­sid­er­a­tions are made to find a suit­able com­prom­ise.
• No need to jus­ti­fy the impact: Em­ploy­ees will no longer need to ex­plain how their re­quest would impact the business or sug­gest ways to mit­ig­ate that im­pact​​​.

These changes aim to make flex­ible work­ing more ac­cess­ible and to en­cour­age em­ploy­ers to engage mean­ing­fully with re­quests, pro­mot­ing a more bal­anced and flex­ible work­ing en­vir­on­ment across vari­ous sec­tors.

How to Make a Suc­ces­ful Flex­ible Work­ing Re­quest?

De­term­ine the type of flex­ib­il­ity you want, whet­h­er it’s chan­ging your hours, days, or loc­a­tion of work.

Common forms for flex­ible work­ing in­clude:

• Part-time work
• Com­pressed hours (work­ing full-time hours over fewer days)
• Job-shar­ing
• Work­ing from home
• Flexi­time (choos­ing when to start and finish work, within agreed limits)

Flex­ible Work­ing Re­quest Needs to Be Made in Writ­ing

Your re­quest must be made in writ­ing and you need to in­clude in­form­a­tion below:

• The changes you are re­questing (e.g., work­ing hours, loc­a­tion)
• When you want the changes to take effect
• How you think these changes could impact the business and how any po­ten­tial issues could be man­aged
• Why the change would be be­ne­fi­cial for you (op­tion­al, but useful to in­clude)

Submit your formal re­quest to your line man­ager or HR de­part­ment, fol­low­ing your em­ployer’s spe­cif­ic pro­cess if they have one. In­clude all rel­ev­ant de­tails as out­lined above.

Em­ployer can Accept, Modify or Refuse the Pro­posal

Your em­ployer has two months to con­sider it and re­spond (in­clud­ing any appeal pro­cess). They may ar­range a meet­ing to dis­cuss your pro­posal in detail and ex­plore how it could be im­ple­men­ted.

Your em­ployer can either accept the re­quest, sug­gest modi­fic­a­tions, or refuse it based on valid business reas­ons, such as in­creased costs or the in­ab­il­ity to meet cus­tom­er demand. Be pre­pared to ne­go­ti­ate and sug­gest pos­sible com­prom­ises that meet both your needs and those of the business.

💡 If your em­ployer re­jects the re­quest, they must provide one of the eight leg­ally ac­cept­able reas­ons, such as the impact on per­form­ance, costs, or staffing issues. If you be­lieve the re­fusal is unfair, you can seek advice or es­cal­ate the matter.

Reas­ons to Refuse Flex­ible Work­ing

Em­ploy­ers must give the reas­ons in writ­ing if they deny a re­quest, and the de­cision must be based on le­git­im­ate business con­cerns.

The ac­cept­able reas­ons, as defined by the Em­ploy­ment Rights Act 1996 are in­tro­duced below.

1. The Burden of Ad­di­tion­al Costs: The change would result in extra costs that the business cannot afford or jus­ti­fy.

2. Impact on Qual­ity: The re­quested change could neg­at­ively affect the qual­ity of work or ser­vices provided.

3. Impact on Per­form­ance: The change could lower in­di­vidual or team per­form­ance, making it harder to meet business tar­gets or ser­vice stand­ards.

4. In­ab­il­ity to Meet Cus­tom­er Demand: If flex­ible work­ing af­fects the com­pany’s abil­ity to meet the needs of its cus­tom­ers, it can be re­fused.

5. In­ab­il­ity to Re­or­gan­ise Work Among Ex­isting Staff: If the work­load cannot be re­dis­trib­uted among other em­ploy­ees, this can be a reason for re­fusal.

6. In­ab­il­ity to Re­cruit Ad­di­tion­al Staff: If ad­di­tion­al staff are needed to ac­com­mod­ate the re­quest and the em­ployer is unable to re­cruit or afford them, the re­quest may be denied.

7. In­suf­fi­cient Work During Pro­posed Work­ing Hours: If there is no work avail­able at the times or days re­quested by the em­ployee, the re­quest may be re­jec­ted.

8. Plan­ned Struc­tur­al Changes: If there are up­com­ing changes in the business, such as re­struc­tur­ing or changes in loc­a­tion, the re­quest can be re­fused.

Flex­ible Work­ing Re­quest Letter – Free Tem­plate

This tem­plate covers the key de­tails needed for a formal flex­ible work­ing re­quest, al­low­ing for per­son­al­isa­tion de­pend­ing on your spe­cif­ic cir­cum­stances.

[Your Name]
[Your Job Title]
[Your De­part­ment]
[Date]

[Man­ager's Name]
[Man­ager's Job Title]
[Com­pany Name]

Sub­ject: Re­quest for Flex­ible Work­ing Ar­range­ment

Dear [Man­ager's Name],

I hope this mes­sage finds you well. I am writ­ing to form­ally re­quest a change to my cur­rent work­ing pat­tern under my right to re­quest flex­ible work­ing, as out­lined in the Em­ploy­ment Rights Act 1996.

I would like to re­quest the fol­low­ing flex­ible work­ing ar­range­ment:

• Pro­posed Changes: [Spe­cify your re­quest, e.g., chan­ging work­ing hours, work­ing from home, part-time schedule, etc.]
• Pro­posed Start Date: [Date you want the new ar­range­ment to start]
• Reason for Re­quest: [Op­tion­al, e.g., to better manage per­son­al com­mit­ments or im­prove work-life bal­ance]

I be­lieve this ar­range­ment can be im­ple­men­ted without neg­at­ively af­fect­ing the team and over­all business pro­ductiv­ity. I have con­sidered how the business could manage this ad­just­ment, and I am happy to dis­cuss any con­cerns or offer sug­ges­tions to ensure a smooth trans­ition. [In­clude any sug­ges­tions, such as del­eg­at­ing cer­tain tasks or how you plan to meet key ob­ject­ives.]

Please let me know if a meet­ing is re­quired to dis­cuss this fur­ther. I am happy to provide any ad­di­tion­al in­form­a­tion or dis­cuss this re­quest in more detail.

Thank you for con­sid­er­ing my ap­plic­a­tion. I look for­ward to your re­sponse.

Best re­gards,
[Your Name]
[Your Con­tact In­form­a­tion]

💡Stay tuned: Aatos will soon launch a ser­vice that en­ables you to create any legal doc­u­ment in just a few minutes. All agree­ments and let­ters are cus­tom­ised to meet your spe­cif­ic needs.

Sources: CIPD, Office for Na­tion­al Stat­ist­ics.

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