Flexible Working application "dismissed"

[xmoonfacex]

Hi All,

My first post on here, so please go easy on me!

Back in may I submitted a flexible working application to my employer (same hours, same job, just WFH instead of in the office), as I have been WFH for the full 18 months of lockdown, and are now being asked to come back into the office full time.
Until many who found that their mental health took a turn for the worse in lock down, I actually found that mine improved due to a better work/life balance (yeah ok, what life in lockdown, right?) - so I am reluctant to give up that extra time I get at home in order to sit in a car travelling to the office, or sit around for an hour in a canteen on my lunch break.

It took about 6 weeks for my employer to respond in any way to my request, and their response stated that they would set up a meeting with me to discuss it.
However, today - 8 weeks from my application - my manager told me that HR had met with her, and that they were going to deny my request to WFH, as if they do it for me then they will have to do it for everyone else on my team. I know some members of my team who would actually prefer to be in the office though, and a I know that I'm the only one in the team who has submitted such a request.
HR have advised my manager that she can be flexible with us at her discretion, but that they wouldn't not change my contracted place of work. My manager is OK with us being flexible for now, but she will soon have a new manager herself and says she will do whatever they want regarding WFH of coming into the office.

My manager told me that HR are informally dismissing my request so that if I do feel like I need to make another request in the next 12 months then I can do so, but also that there will be no official response from HR on my request. I'm not sure if this is beneficial to me, or if it's sly on there part. What are your thoughts?

Based on what I had read on flexi working guidance websites, it seemed to me like there were certain reasons that an employer could give to refusing flexible working, and none of them applied to my application.

[Law Student 6]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Legally you have the right to appeal the refused flexible working application and your employer must respond. They must consider your whole request (including any appeal) within a maximum of 3 months of receiving the original request. However they can ask you for more time to make a decision, but only if you agree.

If your employer rejects the request it must be for one of the following business reasons as set out in the legislation:

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

Judging by what you have said above ‘they will have to do it for everyone else on my team’ doesn’t quite come under any of the bullet points. As you believe your work and life balance would be better under a flexible working pattern it is very important to mention that to your employer upon your appeal. Keep all written correspondence as proof.

Hope this helps and good luck.

[Law Student 6]

ULA Celestine

[echat11]

Have you had to go to your Doctor regards concern for your overall well-being including mental health, if so, your Doctor might be able to document that for you with recent improvements in your over all well-being, which you could further submit to HR to make your case for working flexibly.

[Bingbongsong]

I would be a careful how hard you push for this. Businesses have had a difficult time during COVID, and it's not difficult to satisfy one of the requirements kindly listed above by Law Student. If you genuinely feel the need to work from home, then perhaps consider looking for a new job which offers WFH contract. They haven't said you can't work flexibly at the moment, and trying to force your existing employer to change your contract will not help your career there.

[Manxman]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Legally you have the right to appeal the refused flexible working application and your employer must respond. They must consider your whole request (including any appeal) within a maximum of 3 months of receiving the original request. However they can ask you for more time to make a decision, but only if you agree.

If your employer rejects the request it must be for one of the following business reasons as set out in the legislation:

• the burden of additional costs
• an inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff
• an inability to recruit additional staff
  [*]a detrimental impact on quality
• a detrimental impact on performance
• a detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
• insufficient work for the periods the employee proposes to work
• a planned structural change to your business

Judging by what you have said above ‘they will have to do it for everyone else on my team’ doesn’t quite come under any of the bullet points. As you believe your work and life balance would be better under a flexible working pattern it is very important to mention that to your employer upon your appeal. Keep all written correspondence as proof.

Hope this helps and good luck.

I think you may be missing the point that the employer has not yet formally rejected the request, so you have no idea what formal reasons they would give if the OP persisted down this route. Also, without knowing more about the OP's job you don't know which reasons may or may not be valid ones in support of a rejection. Just generally considering working from home, I suspect an employer could justifiably try using any of the reasons I have put in bold as good cause to reject a request. (And they may well have evidence to support their position).

[Manxman]

I would be a careful how hard you push for this. Businesses have had a difficult time during COVID, and it's not difficult to satisfy one of the requirements kindly listed above by Law Student. If you genuinely feel the need to work from home, then perhaps consider looking for a new job which offers WFH contract. They haven't said you can't work flexibly at the moment, and trying to force your existing employer to change your contract will not help your career there.

I agree - although I would substitute "may" for "will" in the last sentence.

[echat11]

https://www.theguardian.com/business...working-puzzle

[ULA]

xmoonfacex I presume that you put in your request based on the company's Flexible Working request or if they do not have one then in line with the statutory application, which was a formal request.


Law Student 6 my feedback on your post is that you have set out the legal right for the OP to appeal any decision based on a formal request and the grounds upon which an employer can reject a flexible working request on business grounds correctly. Which is useful information for this thread.


Putting in a formal request means that if the process is exhausted including an appeal then an individual cannot make another request for 12 months. What is seems the company wants to do is not treat your FWR as being a formal request thereby, allowing you the possibility to submit a request again within a 12 month period. In one respect it means they do not deal with the issue now, particluarly as currently your manager has discretion to be flexible and leaves you with a window that, within 12 months, if the situation changes due to the requirements of a new senior manager, you can make another request.

Just because you believe that you are the only person in the team to want to continue working at home does not mean that there will not be an operational impact on you continuing to work this way once the team return to the office. If your request is potentially being treated informally would you consider a hybrid solution and if so discuss this with your company.

If the company can justify a reason either now informally or when you next put in a formal request then given your original contract pre pandemic has you working from an office then that is what the company will revert to for your work place location.