Employees have the legal right to request flexible working. However, employers are permitted to refuse a request where there is a valid business reason for doing so.
Under UK employment legislation, there are eight recognised grounds on which an employer may lawfully decline a flexible working request. Any decision should be considered carefully and supported by clear evidence where possible.
The eight statutory reasons are:
The burden of additional costs
A detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand
An inability to reorganise work among existing staff
An inability to recruit additional staff
A detrimental impact on quality
A detrimental impact on performance
Insufficient work available during the periods the employee proposes to work
Planned structural changes
Employers should ensure that requests are handled fairly, consistently and in line with their flexible working policy.
For further guidance, see the UK Government guidance on flexible working requests:
https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working/after-the-application.
If you would like advice tailored to your organisation, please contact our HR Services team at hrservices@lubockfine.co.uk.
