Flexible working request - invitation to meeting

Use our letter to arrange a meeting with your employee to discuss their formal request for flexible working. However, there’s no need to arrange a meeting if you’re happy to agree to the employee’s request in full.

What changes?

The right to request flexible working includes the right for the employee to ask for changes to one or more of the:

• number of hours worked, e.g. part-time working, term-time working, etc.

• times of work, e.g. the days of the week worked and start/finish times

• place of work, e.g. a request to do some or all of the work from home.

Provided the employee’s application for flexible working is valid, you must then handle it in a reasonable manner.  

Meeting to discuss

Whilst there is no set statutory flexible working procedure to follow, the Acas Code of Practice on requests for flexible working provides that you should arrange a meeting without unreasonable delay to discuss the employee’s request, and the legislation says that you must not reject a request without first consulting with the employee about it. The content of the meeting and the way in which you conduct it should allow for a reasonable discussion and consideration of the request. If the original request cannot be accepted in full, you should also discuss, for example, any potential modifications to the request, or any alternative flexible working options that may be available and suitable for both parties. It may additionally be helpful to discuss whether a trial period may be appropriate to assess the feasibility of an arrangement. Once you’ve made a decision about the request, you must then inform the employee of your decision in writing without unreasonable delay. The Acas Code of Practice says that you must agree to a flexible working request unless there is a genuine business reason not to. Our Flexible Working Request - Invitation to Meeting will help you set up the meeting and provide the employee with all relevant information in advance of it.  In particular, it emphasises that the employee should be ready to discuss alternative work patterns if their request cannot be accommodated. The Acas Code of Practice also recommends that you should allow the employee to be accompanied at the meeting by a work colleague, trade union representative or trade union official.

No meeting

There is no need for a meeting if you decide to agree to the employee’s request in full.