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Certain employees have the statutory right to make a flexible working request. To be eligible to make a flexible working request, a person must:

• be an employee
• have worked for you continuously for at least 26 weeks on the date they make their request
• not have made another statutory request during the past 12 months (unless it relates to a request to consider reasonable adjustments on account of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995).

Further, employed agency workers returning to work from a period of parental leave also have the right to request flexible working.

The right to make a flexible working request is open to all those who meet the above eligibility requirements. It can be made for any reason, and it is not restricted to parents or carers.

The frequency of flexible working requests

Employees can make one application every 12 months unless it relates to a request to consider reasonable adjustments on account of disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

The 12-month period runs from the date the most recent application was made.

Before making a subsequent request, the employee must still meet the eligibility criteria as outlined above.

Introducing a flexible working policy can benefit your business as well as your employees.

Flexible working: business benefits

Many employers believe that promoting flexible working makes good business sense and brings the following improvements:

Cost effectiveness

Greater cost-effectiveness and efficiency, such as savings on overheads when employees work from home or less downtime for machinery when 24-hour shifts are worked.

Flexible operating hours

The chance to have extended operating hours or more flexible operating hours to meet the demands of global customers in different time zones.

Attract and retain staff

Ability to attract and retain a more diverse and higher-skilled workforce. Also, recruitment costs are reduced if your retention levels are higher.

Increased staff morale

More job satisfaction and better staff morale if hours are flexible to meet workers' commitments outside of work.

Reduced sickness levels

Reduced levels of sickness absence.

Better work-life balance

Greater continuity as staff, who might otherwise have left, are offered hours they can manage. Many employers find that a better work-life balance has a positive impact on staff retention, and on employee relations, motivation, and commitment. High rates of retention mean that you keep experienced staff who can often offer a better overall service.

Meet customer demands

Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty as a result of the above.

More agile business

Improved competitiveness, such as being able to react to changing market conditions more effectively.

Flexible working: benefits for employees

The main benefit of working flexibly for your employees is that it gives them the chance to fit other commitments and activities around work and make better use of their free time.

Flexible working can help you as an employer promote a healthy work-life balance for your staff.

Introducing a flexible working policy

You should inform and consult your employees before you introduce a flexible working policy. This may help them understand how flexible working arrangements may impact your business.

When planning to implement a flexible working policy, you will need to consider the following:

• What flexible working arrangements will suit the business?
• What are the legal requirements?
• How will you deal with applications, eg, who will attend the meetings, and how will the administration work?
• Are there jobs that might be difficult to do under a flexible working arrangement, eg, jobs that don't suit homeworking?
• If there are, what is the nature of the obstacle, and can you perhaps overcome it?
• How flexible are your IT arrangements, eg, can employees access their email away from the workplace?

Flexible working policy templates

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has developed a  - you can download and personalise this to your business needs.

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland also hosts free training courses on flexible working on a regular basis as part of its .

Find out how to set up employment policies for your business.

The term flexible working covers flexibility in terms of the hours that are worked and the location, and includes the following:

Flexible working: different types

Flexible arrangements must comply with the law on working time. See hours, rest breaks, and the working week.

An employee's application should set out their desired working pattern and how they think you can accommodate it.

Information that must be included in a flexible working application

For a flexible working application to be valid, it must:

• be dated and in writing
• state that it is being made under the statutory right to make a flexible working request
• specify the flexible working pattern applied for
• explain what effect the proposed change may have on your business and how you can deal with any such effect
• state the date on which they want the change to start
• be the only request made in the last 12 months

The employee should allow plenty of time between the date of the application and the date they expect the flexible working arrangement to start. This is to allow you time to look at their application and assess whether or not you can accommodate it.

See form FW (A): Flexible Working Application Form in the Labour Relations Agency's (LRA) guidance and templates on .

Flexible working differences between GB and NI

There are some significant differences between flexible working legislation in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The LRA has summed up these differences in a short video.

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Flexible working requests and the contract of employment

If you accept an employee's flexible working request, this will be a permanent change to their contractual terms and conditions unless you agree otherwise. See change an employee's terms of employment.

If you or the employee is concerned about this, you could either suggest that they work flexibly over a trial period or agree that the arrangement will be temporary.

Note that employees do not need to provide a reason for their application for flexible working.

You should acknowledge receipt of the employee's flexible working request in writing.

All statutory flexible working requests must be seriously considered with the aim of deciding whether your business can accommodate the requested work pattern.

Under the statutory procedure, you should hold a meeting with the employee to discuss their request. If you cannot accommodate the requested working pattern, you may still wish to explore alternatives to find a working pattern suitable for both.

You can also agree to a flexible working request simply on the basis of the application itself without the need for a meeting, but it would be good practice to meet with the employee to discuss any practical issues for implementation.

Incomplete flexible working application

If the application is incomplete, you can ask the employee to resubmit it and inform them that you do not have to consider the application until it is resubmitted.

If the employee refuses to provide you with the information needed, you can treat the application as withdrawn. The employee will not be able to make another application for another 12 months. See the right to request flexible working: eligibility criteria.

Meeting to discuss the flexible working application

You should arrange a meeting with the employee within 28 days of receiving their valid flexible working application. If it is difficult to arrange a meeting within this period, seek the employee's agreement to extend it.

Failure to hold a meeting within the 28-day period or any extension, without the employee's agreement, will be a breach of the procedure.

You should arrange the meeting at an appropriate time and place that is convenient for all.

The right to be accompanied

The employee has the right to be accompanied at the meeting by a single companion who is a worker employed by the same employer as the employee who chooses them.

The companion can address the meeting and confer with the employee during it, but may not answer questions on behalf of the employee.

If the companion is unable to attend the meeting, the employee must seek to rearrange the meeting. It should take place within seven days of the date of the original meeting.

You must pay both the employee and their companion for the time off from their normal working duties to attend the meeting.

What happens if the employee fails to attend the meeting?

If the employee is unable to attend the meeting, they should contact you as soon as possible to explain their absence and allow you to rearrange it for the next mutually convenient time.

If the employee fails to attend the meeting more than once without a reasonable explanation, you can treat their application as withdrawn, and you should write to them to confirm this.

You must notify an employee of your decision within 14 days of the meeting to discuss their flexible working request.

If you need more time to consider the request, you must agree to this with the employee.

If you cannot agree to the working pattern asked for, you can still try to reach an agreement with the employee on an alternative arrangement.

Accepting a flexible working request

If you accept an employee's flexible working request, you must write to them:

• detailing their new working pattern
• stating the date on which it will start
• ensuring that this notice is dated
• stating that the arrangement means a permanent change to the employee's terms and conditions of employment (unless agreed otherwise)

Flexible working trial periods

If you or the employee is not sure that the proposed flexible working pattern will work in practice, you could try a different working arrangement or consider a trial period for flexible working.

Trial periods can happen at two stages before a formal agreement is reached on the flexible working request:

• If you know that your employee will be applying, then you can agree to a trial period before they submit a formal written flexible working request. If you do this, the formal procedure will still be available to the employee in the future.
• If the employee makes a formal written application, you could agree to an extension of time for you to make a decision, and the trial period could happen before you reach a final agreement. In this case, the rest of the formal procedure would still be available to the employee.

Informal temporary flexible working arrangements

If you and the employee think that a statutory flexible working arrangement resulting in a permanent change to their contract of employment may not be the best solution, you could consider an informal temporary arrangement.

For example, this may be appropriate when the employee suddenly becomes the carer of an adult with a terminal illness, or they have to care for someone with a fluctuating condition like Parkinson's disease.

You should put any such agreement in writing.

If you decide that you cannot accommodate any kind of flexible working for an employee, you must write to them:

• stating which of the listed business ground(s) apply as to why you cannot accept the request
• providing an explanation of why the business reasons apply in the circumstances
• setting out the appeal procedure

This written notice must be dated.

The business grounds for rejecting a flexible working request

You can only reject a flexible working request on a limited number of set grounds.

These are:

• planned structural changes
• burden of additional costs
• detrimental impact on quality
• inability to recruit additional staff
• detrimental impact on performance
• inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff
• detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
• insufficient work for the periods the employee proposes to work

Explaining your refusal of a flexible working request

In your written refusal of a flexible working request, you must explain why the business ground applies in the circumstances. If an employee understands why a business reason is relevant, they are more likely to accept the outcome and be satisfied that you have considered their application seriously - even if it isn't the outcome they wanted.

You do not have to go into a lot of detail, but you should include the key facts about why the business ground applies.

If you decide to reject a flexible working application based on incorrect facts, this will give the employee grounds to make a complaint to an industrial tribunal.

See form FW (C): Flexible Working Application Rejection Form in the Labour Relations Agency's (LRA) guidance and templates on .

If an employee believes that you have not properly considered their flexible working request, they may want to appeal your decision to reject it.

Flexible working: employee's notice of appeal

The employee must make their appeal in writing within 14 days of receiving your written notice refusing their flexible working request - read more on reaching a decision on a flexible working request.

In the appeal notice, the employee must set out the grounds for making the appeal and ensure that the appeal is dated.

For example, an employee might appeal because they want to:

• challenge a fact you gave to explain why the business reason applies
• bring your attention to something you weren't aware of when you rejected the application, eg that another member of staff is now willing to cover the hours the employee no longer wishes to work

There are no restrictions on the grounds for appeal.

See form FW (D): Flexible Working Appeal Form in the Labour Relations Agency's (LRA) guidance and templates on .

Arranging an appeal meeting

You must arrange the appeal meeting within 14 days of receiving the employee's appeal notice with regard to their flexible working application.

A different manager should ideally hear this appeal, usually at a higher level, than the manager who made the initial decision to reject the flexible working request.

The principles on the right to be accompanied, payment for attending the meeting, and what happens if the employee fails to attend are the same as for the initial meeting - see considering flexible working requests.

Notifying an employee of your decision following the appeal meeting

You must inform the employee of the outcome of the flexible working request appeal in writing within 14 days after the date of the appeal meeting.

If you change your mind and choose to accept their flexible working request, this notification must:

• be dated
• include a description of the new working pattern
• state the date from which the new working pattern is to take effect

If you choose to uphold the decision to refuse the flexible working request, this notification must:

• be dated
• state the grounds for the decision - these must be in direct response to the employee's grounds for making the appeal
• explain why the grounds for refusal apply in the circumstances - your explanation should provide the kind of detail required in your explanation following the initial meeting.

This notice amounts to your final decision and ends the formal right to request a flexible working procedure.

See form FW (E): Flexible Working Appeal Reply Form in the Labour Relations Agency's (LRA) guidance and templates on .

There may be occasions where you need more time than the formal statutory procedure allows in order to reach your decision on an employee's request for flexible working.

There are also situations where you may treat the employee's application as withdrawn.

Extension of time limits to consider a flexible working request

There are two circumstances where the time limits for giving decisions and raising appeals on flexible working requests can be extended.

Through agreement by the employer and the employee

You might need to extend time limits where, for example, you need more time to consult with other staff or you agree to a trial period to check the suitability of the proposed flexible working arrangement.

The written record of the agreement must:

• be dated
• be sent to the employee
• specify what period the extension relates to
• specify the date on which the extension is to end

Through absence of the employer

An automatic extension applies where the individual who normally deals with the flexible working request is absent from work due to leave or illness. Where this is the case, the 28-day period within which a meeting shall be held to discuss a flexible working application commences on the day the individual returns to work, or 28 days after the application is made, whichever is the sooner.

There are no other circumstances where an automatic extension to any period applies.

See form FW (F): Extension of Time Limit in the Labour Relations Agency's (LRA) guidance and templates on .

Treating a flexible working application as withdrawn

There are three circumstances where you can treat an employee's application for flexible working as withdrawn:

1. The employee unreasonably refuses to provide the information you need to consider their application. You should confirm in writing the withdrawal of the application.

2. The employee twice fails to attend a meeting to discuss a request (or a meeting to discuss an appeal) without reasonable cause. You should confirm in writing the withdrawal of the application. However, you should be flexible where, on both occasions, the employee cannot attend due to unforeseen circumstances.

3. The employee decides to withdraw the application. They should notify you as soon as possible in writing. If you don't receive written notification, ask them to confirm their intention verbally and then confirm this in writing. The employee will not be eligible to make another application for 12 months.

In all circumstances, a written record must be made. See form FW(G): Notice of Withdrawal in the LRA's guidance and templates on .

There may be occasions where an employee feels that their employer has not dealt with their flexible working application to their satisfaction.

Informal resolution

You should first try to sort out any problems with a flexible working application informally to discourage the employee from taking more formal action.

If an employee feels that the issue has not been resolved using informal methods, they may use your grievance procedure. Read more on handling grievances.

Third-party conciliation/mediation

If you cannot resolve the issue internally, you could try using an external third-party mediator or conciliator, eg Labour Relations Agency (LRA) or a union representative.

The LRA may offer to resolve the dispute through its Arbitration Scheme.

The LRA Arbitration Scheme

The LRA Arbitration Scheme provides an alternative to having a case heard by a tribunal to resolve an employment-related dispute (for example, claims relating to flexible working arrangements, unfair dismissal, breach of contract, or discrimination).

The scheme is quicker, confidential, non-legalistic, less formal and more cost-effective than a tribunal hearing.

Under the scheme, an arbitrator's decision is binding as a matter of law and has the same effect as a tribunal.

Find out more about the .

Early Conciliation

Anyone who wishes to lodge a claim with the Industrial or Fair Employment Tribunal must first notify the LRA and discuss the option of Early Conciliation. A claimant will not be able to proceed to the tribunal without at least considering this option.

Tribunal claims

Where all other methods have failed, the employee may feel that an industrial tribunal claim is necessary.

An employee may make a complaint to an industrial tribunal where either:

• your decision to reject a flexible working application was based on incorrect facts, although this issue should first be covered in the appeal meeting - see flexible working refusal: employee's appeal
• you didn't follow the procedure properly, eg you failed to hold the meeting to discuss the application within the timescale (where no extension had been agreed) or where you failed to provide a complete and proper explanation to the employee of your decision to refuse their request

An employee cannot make a complaint where they simply disagree with the business grounds you give.

The industrial tribunal does not have the power to question your business reasons, although it can examine the facts on which the business reason was based to see if they are factually correct. If a case is brought jointly with other legislation, eg the Sex Discrimination (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 or other discrimination legislation, an industrial tribunal may seek to examine how the request was considered.

Note that applications to tribunals have time limits. The LRA can provide information about tribunal time limits - .

Remedies and compensation

An industrial tribunal or LRA arbitration can order you to:

• pay an award to the employee
• reconsider an application by following the procedure correctly

The maximum level of compensation is eight weeks' pay, although there is a statutory cap on the amount of a week's pay.

There is a separate award of up to two weeks' pay where you failed to allow the employee to be accompanied at a meeting.

There may be an additional award of compensation if the employee is successful in a joint claim, eg, taken under Sex Discrimination legislation - as set out above.

You must not subject an employee to a detriment or dismiss them for a reason relating to their flexible working request. In addition, you should note that rejecting a flexible working request could give rise to a discrimination claim.

Protection against detriment/dismissal for requesting flexible working

Employees are protected from suffering a detriment or being dismissed because:

• they have made an application to work flexibly
• they exercised a right under the flexible working request procedure
• they have made a complaint to an industrial tribunal in respect of their flexible working application
• they exercised their right to be accompanied at a meeting to discuss their request, or they accompanied another employee to such a meeting

A detriment is where you act in a way that results in unfair treatment of an employee because they did something protected by law, such as exercising a statutory employment right.

Dismissal means your termination of their employment, with or without notice, including redundancy selection and the non-renewal of a fixed-term contract. It could also include constructive dismissal, ie where the employee resigns believing you have substantially breached their contract of employment. Read more on dismissing employees.

Employees who suffer a detriment or are dismissed in these circumstances may make a complaint to an industrial tribunal.

Discrimination and flexible working requests

In some circumstances, rejecting an employee's flexible working request could open up the possibility of a claim for discrimination on grounds of sex, gender reassignment, marital status or civil partnership, race, religion or belief, political opinion, sexual orientation, disability, or age.

For example, if you reject the request of a woman returning from maternity leave to work part-time, this could be seen as indirect sex discrimination. This is on the grounds that a greater proportion of women than men have the main parental caring responsibility, and requiring the employee to work full time potentially puts her at a disadvantage compared with her male colleagues.

However, even if the employee is put at a disadvantage by your flexible working refusal, you can still justify your actions at a tribunal if you can show that they were a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.

Read more on how to prevent discrimination and value diversity.

Part-time employee discrimination

You must not treat part-time employees less favourably in their contractual terms and conditions than comparable full-timers - unless you can objectively justify that treatment.

So, if you agree to a request to work fewer hours, bear in mind that the employee is still entitled to the same pay and benefits (on a pro-rata basis) and access to training and promotion opportunities.

Find out more about employing part-time workers.