requests to work flexibly from the presumption that their request will be granted unless there is a business reason for not granting the request.
If the request is to be rejected it should be for one of the following business reasons as set out in legislation:
The burden of additional costs An inability to reorganise work An inability to recruit additional staff A detrimental impact on quality of performance or to meet customer demand Insufficient work for the periods the employee proposes to work A planned structural change to your business
The Draft Code of Practice on the extended right to request flexible working is available at the Acas website and the consultation will run for 12 weeks closing on 20 May 2013.
The Children and Families Act received its second reading on 25 February 2013.
COMMITTEE CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO TACKLE WORKPLACE INEQUALITY
21 June 2013
A report published by the Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee has called on the government to take action on workplace inequality. The report also calls on the government to do more to tackle female under-representation in certain sectors of the economy. As well as addressing the worrying lack of comprehensive careers advice, the report recommends that the government sets targets for encouraging women into apprenticeship sectors where they are currently under-represented. The report also proposes that workers should be entitled to ask for flexible working from when they first start working for an employer, rather than being required to have been in the job for six months beforehand. As well as these recommendations, the report suggests the government should establish a voluntary Code of Practice to highlight best practice in the provision of quality part-time and flexible working, and must dispel the myth that any type of flexible working is problematic and cannot work.
Adrian Bailey MP, chair of the BIS committee, said: "Four decades since the Equal Pay Act, we still do not have full workplace equality. We cannot wait another 40 years. "
Sarah Jackson, Chief Executive of the work/life balance organisation Working Families said: "We are pleased to see their recommendations that all employees should have a right to request flexible working from the outset, and that we need reliable, consistent data on the extent of flexible working. There are strong messages here for Government to take action to become an exemplar in flexible working and for employers to ensure that they are maximising the benefits that flexible work can bring."
Read the full report .
ARE YOU HAPPY TO TALK FLEXIBLE WORKING?
12 July 2013
CIPP Policy News Journal
16/04/2014, Page 72 of 519
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