The right to request flexible work extends to parents of children up to the age of 16

The change was announced today (15th May) by the business secretary John Hutton. Previously it had only applied to parents of children up to 6. It must remembered that it is only the right to request flexible hours, not automatically to have them. This said, over the last few years, tribunal cases have shown that an employer who cannot justify a refusal of flexible hours is likely to fall foul of the law...and be hit with a claim for sex discrimination.

The government said that over last year 90% of requests were approved by employers. There will of course be situations where part time work simply is not possible. As general rule of thumb, an employer who cannot accept an employee's request for part-time hours will be in a strong position if it is able to offer some flexibility rather than giving an outright refusal.

For further information on this or any employment issues please contact the colemans-ctts Employment Team or email Tom Walker, Partner, at tom.walker@colemans-ctts.co.uk or telephone 0208 296 6878