Asking for flexible working in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, an employee with 26 weeks of continuous service can make one statutory request for flexible working in any 12 month period. It must be in writing and dated, and your employer then has fixed time limits to meet you, decide and handle an appeal. The whole process can take up to 14 weeks. Your employer can still refuse on one of the listed business grounds. The flexible working requests guide covers the national picture, and this one sticks to what nidirect says applies here.

Who can ask

You must be an employee, which excludes agency workers, with 26 weeks of continuous service when you apply. Agency workers returning from parental leave or the armed forces are the exception. You get one application under the statutory right in any 12 month period.

What the request must say

Send it as a letter or email and date it. It must state that it is made under the statutory right, describe the working pattern you want, give a start date and explain what effect you think the change would have on your employer. It must also say whether you have made a previous application, and when.

If something is missing, your employer should tell you and you resubmit, because it does not have to consider an incomplete application. If you unreasonably refuse to provide the information, your employer can treat the application as withdrawn, and you wait 12 months before applying again.

The timetable

Step	Time allowed
Employer agrees and confirms in writing	within 28 days of your application
Employer does not agree: meeting	within 28 days of receiving your application
Written decision after the meeting	within 14 days of the meeting, unless you both agree longer
Your appeal, in writing	within 14 days of the decision notice
Appeal meeting	within 14 days of your appeal
Written appeal decision	within 14 days of the appeal meeting

You can bring a colleague or union representative to the meetings. Missing two meetings without good reason can lead to the application being treated as withdrawn.

Reasons an employer can refuse

nidirect lists eight:

• additional costs
• detrimental effect on meeting customer demand
• inability to reorganise work among existing staff
• inability to recruit additional staff
• detrimental impact on quality
• detrimental impact on performance
• insufficient work in the periods you propose
• planned structural changes

A refusal notice must set out the ground or grounds, explain why they apply, state your appeal rights and give the date. Check the stated ground against the list above.

Appealing a refusal

Your appeal has to be in writing within 14 days. Valid grounds include raising information your employer did not know about when it decided, or challenging a fact it relied on. nidirect says you cannot appeal simply because you disagree with the business ground the employer picked.

If the appeal fails, check there was no misunderstanding of the procedure or the facts. You can use the grievance procedure in your contract, covered in raising a grievance in Northern Ireland. You can also go to a tribunal or, if both sides agree, arbitration, particularly where the procedure was not properly followed.

Protection

You are protected from dismissal or unfair treatment for applying, being granted or complaining about flexible working. If it happens, you can complain to a tribunal.

Public sector patterns

Many public employers offer informal patterns outside the statutory process, such as flexitime, part-time hours, job shares and term-time working. The Northern Ireland Civil Service flexitime and working patterns guide describes how the NICS runs them, and flexible working in the public sector compares the sectors. Check your own employer’s policy as well, because it may offer options outside the statutory process.

What to check

• Your 26 weeks of service on the date you send the request.
• That the letter says it is a statutory request and includes every item above.
• The date of any previous application.
• The dates your employer has to meet, so you can see when a deadline has passed.

Free advice comes from the Labour Relations Agency, Advice NI and your union. The differences from Great Britain are covered in how employment law in Northern Ireland differs from Great Britain.