Summary of the scheme

(i) Eligibility

A parent or carer must meet the following criteria to be eligible to make a request under the right to flexible working under the University's Flexible Working procedure:

• Be an employee i.e. not an agency worker
• Have worked for the University continuously for 26 weeks at the date at which the application is made
• Not have made another application to work flexibly under the right during the past 12 months

And, EITHER

Have responsibility for the care of a dependant adult and be making the application to enable him/her to care for that adult

OR

• Have responsibility for the upbringing of the child under seventeen or under eighteen where disabled and be making the application to enable him/her to care for the child;

• Be either:
  • the mother, father, adopter, guardian, special guardian or foster parent, or private foster carer of the child or a person granted a residence order in respect of the child; or
  • married to, the civil partner of, or the partner (see note 1) of the child's mother, father, adopter, guardian, special guardian, foster parent or private foster carer, or a person granted a residence order in respect of the child;
• Make the request no later than two weeks before the child's seventeenth birthday (the eighteenth birthday for disabled children)

 Notes:   (1) "partner" in relation to a child's mother, father, adopter, guardian, special guardian, foster parent, or private foster carer means a person (whether of a different sex or the same sex) who either lives with the mother, father, adopter, guardian, special guardian, foster parent or private foster carer in an enduring family relationship or otherwise supports the child, but is not a relative of the mother, father, adopter, guardian, special guardian, foster parent, or private foster carer.

(ii) Time limits and extensions

The flexible working regulations set the following time limits on each stage of the application process:

The department and the employee may agree to extend these time limits for any part of the statutory procedure; any such agreement should be recorded in writing by the department, be dated, specify what time limit the extension relates to, and specify the date on which the extension is to end. This record of agreement must be provided to the employee.

You should ask your employee to confirm that he or she has received notification of any extension to time limits.

(iii) Considering requests

It is important, in order that the University's procedures can be seen to be fair, that departments properly follow the procedure for dealing with an employee's request for flexible working.

It is strongly recommended that departments should start by taking a positive approach towards a request for flexible working. However, it is recognised that, due to the operational needs of the department, you may feel unable to accept a particular request. Employees are also encouraged to be flexible in their approach to requests and are asked to consider alternative working arrangements that may be appropriate if their first-choice flexibility option is not possible.

(iv) Right to be accompanied at the meeting and the appeal meeting

An employee will have the right to be accompanied at a meeting or an appeal meeting by a trade union representative (if a member) or by a friend or colleague from within the University. A person who accompanies an employee at a meeting or an appeal meeting concerning a request for flexible working will have the right to paid time off for this purpose.