What's changed? Acas publishes revised Code of Practice on requests for flexible working

In July last year we wrote about ACAS’s consultation on its Draft Code of Practice – handling flexible working requests. After considering the feedback received during that consultation Acas has published a revised Code of Practice which includes a few changes to the original document including:

• recommending that employers discuss with the employee other options if they cannot fully agree to their original request and consider hosting a trial period to access the feasibility of the arrangement;
• removing the need to hold a formal meeting if the employer agrees to the request;
• recommending an expanded list of individuals who can accompany an employee to a meeting (whilst making it clear that there is no statutory right to have a companion present);
• expressly stating that employees don’t have a statutory right to appeal a decision, but that it’s good practice to allow them to do so;
• suggesting that all organizations, regardless of their size, assign a different manager to handle appeals related to flexible working requests;
• removing its previous suggestion that if the request involves adjustments for disability, it should be dealt with separately.

Acas will also produce non-statutory guidance. 

Want to know more?

We'll be discussing changes to the right to request flexible working during our free webinars taking place on 30 and 31 January. You'll also find out about the raft of other employment law changes coming into force this year. Please let me know if you'd like to attend or you can register here.

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