Employers have been reminded by the Employment Appeal Tribunal of the importance of dealing with flexible working request in a timely manner. In the case of Walsh v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd the Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that an employee had not given the employer his agreement to extend the usual 3-month time limit to address the application for flexible working and thus the employer was under a duty to comply with the law and give their response within the three-month period.
Flexible working
The law requires the flexible working request including the appeal to be completed within a three-month period. The law does permit with the agreement of the employee to extend the time for the decision-making procedure. An employee may only submit a claim to the Employment Tribunal after the decision phase has elapsed.
In the case of Walsh v Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd the Employment Appeal Tribunal had to decided if the employee, by implied conduct had approved an extension of the decision phase. This was crucial as the Employment Tribunal would only have jurisdiction to hear the claim if the decision period had lapsed.
Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned the Employments Tribunal decision that the employee, by implication, had agreed with the employer to the extension of time to go over the normal three-month period. The Employment Appeal Tribunal therefore concluded the employee presented the claim after the three-month decision period.
The decision demonstrates the importance of complying with the three-month period and the ensure any agreement to extension should be clearly agreed by the employer and employee and ideally in writing.
This article serves only as guidance and if you require advice about an employee, please contact the Quest HR advice line on 01455 852028.
