In recent Flexibility articles we have
outlined the new UK employment legislation and the issues arising from
the "right to request flexible work" enshrined in it - for parents of
children under 6 or disabled children under 18, at least, if not for
the rest of us.The government hopes that most requests to work
flexibly can be dealt with amicably and consensually in the workplace,
and outlines a process for doing so. But the legislation also
spells out a legal framework for appeals, arbitration and employment
tribunals, as well as pointing out a range of other relevant
legislation on discrimination in the workplace.
So in all circumstances it is important that employers, employees
and employee representatives know their rights and responsibilities,
and can handle the legal implications of their policies, decisions and
actions. One estimate is that there could be up to 40,000
tribunal cases per year dealing with disputes.
Clearly not all individuals requesting flexible work or their
employers are going to understand all the legal implications of the
new Employment Act. One organisation that does, however, is
Time4Balance. Time4Balance
is a flexible work consultancy set up by lawyer Anna Kavanagh, and has
a particular specialism in helping people through legal and regulatory
issues and making their case effectively.
Helping individuals
Time4balance can provide guidance and practical assistance to
individuals on:
- How to apply for a flexible working arrangement
- The different types of flexible working arrangements
- Devising a business case to support an application for flexible
working
- Providing supporting evidence of successful flexible working
arrangements
- Legal rights and issues
- Obtaining finance to pay for consultancy and legal fees.
Anna cites examples of helping individuals who have been refused the
right to work flexibly where Time4Balance has gathered evidence of
similar roles being carried out in the same organisation or the same
sector on a flexible basis. Examples range from a toxicologist working
for the National Health Service who wanted to scale down her hours, to
a City lawyer wanting to set up a job-share.
Helping employers
Employers must also see that they are on firm ground and have a
legitimate reason for refusing a request to work flexibly.
Time4Balance can provide guidance on this, helping them to
understand the legislative environment surrounding flexible working.
The legislation goes far beyond the “right to request” under the
Employment Act and covers such issues as the part-time workers
legislation, the working time directive, marital discrimination and
parental leave, Health & Safety and so on. They can also help in
obtaining evidence to defend a decision to reject a request to work
flexibly. But equally the advisory role may be to help develop appropriate
well-founded policies to accommodate flexible working.
Having the evidence
For law firms, Time4Balance can provide expert evidence about
flexible working arrangements in an employment tribunal.
An important aspect of the approach is the use of case studies of
companies and individuals working flexibly. They have researched and
interviewed individuals and companies implementing flexible working to
determine the viability of the arrangement, the reactions of clients
and colleagues, the effect on promotion and other issues raised.
If either a company or an individual is uncertain of the viability of
a proposed arrangement, Time4balance can find and interview other
workers who are in a comparable job, with a comparable client base and
in a comparable organisation to determine whether or not a role can be
performed flexibly. They also have a database of roles, companies and
individuals working flexibly.
Anna Kavanagh believes that, by advising both companies and
individuals, Time4balance has gained a unique insight into the issues
affecting both parties.
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Further Information
In this article we profile specialist
consultancy Time4Balance, who combine legal expertise with
expertise in advising on flexible working.
Further information can be found on the
Time4Balance website, or by contacting
Anna Kavanagh
Tel: +44 (0)20 8549 7949 |
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Further articles on Flexibility
You can find further information on the Right
to Request in these feature articles:
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