Right to request flexible working Key changes to the law and to the university’s policy on Flexible Working

What’s changed

Before 30 June 2014, only carers with children under 17 or 18 in the case of disabled children, or those caring for adults, could make a statutory request to work flexibly. Now, all eligible employees may make a statutory request for flexible working for whatever reason. Open to ‘all’

Before 30 June 2014, statutory requests followed a rigid, prescriptive procedure with defined timescales for each stage. The statutory procedure has been replaced by a requirement for employers to consider requests in a reasonable manner and within an overall timescale of 3 months. New procedure and timescales

See new Flexible Working Policy for eligibility criteria and further details Changes to university policy Guidance also available for managers dealing with flexible working requests

Or view online on the Staff Pages

What else should I know?

The statutory right is a right to request and to have that request considered – it is not a right to work flexibly. As before, non-eligible employees and other workers can request flexible working but this will not be a ‘statutory request’.

What flexible working options can be requested?

Examples : Flexible lunch period Compressed hours Variation in working hours Job share Seasonal hours Staggered hours Remote working/working from home.

Speak to your HR adviser if you need more advice.