If your employees have over 26 weeks service they have a right to request flexible working.

As an employer you must:

• Deal with all requests in a ‘reasonable manner’ including:

• Hold one to one meeting with employees to discuss their application for flexible working
• Giving due consideration to the advantages & disadvantages of the employees application
• Giving the employee the right to appeal the decision through a formal appeals process

Consideration should be given to different ways of flexible working including:

• Job sharing
• Home Working
• Part time
• Compressed hours (Working full-time hours but over fewer days)
• Flexitime
• Annualised hours (employee allowed to work there total annual work hours flexibly,  around core business hours or business demand)
• Staggered hours (employee allowed to have different start, finish and break times from other employees)
• Phased retirement

Decisions on flexible working requests should be made within 3 months of application.