Flexible Working
Key points § Although employees returning to work after maternity leave have no statutory right to do so on a part-time or job-sharing basis, recent amendments to the Employment Rights Act 1996 mean that the parents (or adoptive parents) of children under the age of six, or of disabled children under the age of 18, who have been continuously employed for 26 or more weeks, now have the right (without penalty) to apply to their employers for a more flexible pattern of working hours. In short, they have the right to seek to vary their contracts of employment so as to enable them to spend more time with their children. Their employers may not reject any such application 'out of hand', but must consider the implications and be prepared to offer sound business reasons if they decide to reject it. If, on the other hand, an employer agrees to accommodate the employee's request, the variation in the employee's terms and conditions will be permanent and irreversible. § It is...