Every employee in the UK, who has worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks, has the right to make a statutory flexible working request – not just parents and carers. Associated mainly with an improved work-life balance for the employee, it also brings great employer benefits in terms of improved employee recruitment, retention and efficiency. Here are some tips on making a successful request

CHECK YOUR EMPLOYER’S POLICY

Check in the staff handbook or intranet for the company’s own flexible working policy and follow what you are required to do to make the request to the letter, including meeting the required timescales and sending it to the correct person.

DISCUSS IT WITH WHO IT WILL IMPACT:

Discuss your request with your team, both full-time in-house and other flexible workers, to make sure there’s buy-in and understanding.

MAKE SURE THE REQUEST IS IN WRITING

If your employer doesn’t have its own flexible working policy, the law lays down a framework which you can follow. Most importantly, requests must be in writing, all correspondence dated, and employers must decide on requests within 3 months.

BE DETAILED AND BE REALISTIC:

Put as much information into the request as possible, including, required hours, start date, reasons for the request and impact it will have on your productivity, and how you feel it would realistically benefit the business. BE CONFIDENT!

MAKE IT WORTH THEIR WHILE

Try and anticipate what your employer might see as barriers to your request and address them with solutions before they can even bring them up. Suggesting a 3-month trial can always appease doubts.

ONE REQUEST PER 12 MONTHS

You can only make one request every 12 months, so it’s beneficial to do your homework thoroughly and get it right, as you won’t be able to request an amendment.

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