Flexible working - your right to have a say in the hours you work (Leaflet 346)

Date: 23 September 2008

Flexible working - your right to have a say in the hours you work

Juggling the demands of work with raising a family is not easy at the best of times. This leaflet tells you about your right to have a say in the hours you work.

If you want to change your hours

• The number of hours you work

• The times of day or night that you work

To qualify you must:

• Have worked for your employer for 26 weeks

• Have a child under the age of six or a disabled child under the age of 18

• The change you want must be connected to caring for your child

• From April 2009, the right to request flexible working will be extended to parents of children aged up to 16 years old.

The right to request flexible working applies equally to men and women, same sex couples, adoptive parents and foster parents.

Carers

Near relative includes parents, parents-in-law, adult child, adopted adult child, siblings (including those who are in-laws), uncles, aunts, grandparents and step relatives.

You must also have worked for your employer for 26 weeks and the change you want must be connected to caring for the person you provide care for.

Other legal rights

• Parental leave - Parents of children under the age of five have the right to 13 weeks unpaid parental leave per child if they have worked for their employer for more than one year. Parents of disabled children have the right to 18 weeks unpaid parental leave.

• Time off for dependants - Everyone has the right to take unpaid reasonable time off work to help family members who depend on you in an emergency.

Don't forget, Usdaw has negotiated agreements with many employers to provide enhanced family friendly entitlements over and above the statutory minimum. Check with your employer or your local union rep to see what you are entitled to.

Case study

Karen normally worked 2pm-5pm on a Monday, however her employer suddenly decided to change her hours to 2pm-6pm without consultation. Karen could not comply with this change as she had to be there for her son to make sure he had taken his medication and eaten properly. Her employer did not even try to understand the implications the changes had for Karen. She subsequently resigned.

Karen took the case to tribunal and won. The tribunal found that there had been indirect sex discrimination and awarded compensation for loss of earnings and injury to feelings.

Usdaw members have also successfully used the new right to:

• Finish work at 3pm to collect children from school

• Work school term times only

• Stop working Saturdays for a limited period of six months. In this case the person's partner had left to work abroad and she could no longer continue to work the Saturday shift

• Change from working an evening shift to an afternoon shift

Also, Usdaw reps at one site have negotiated a second stage of appeal where the member has the right to be accompanied to the meeting by a full-time official.

Five good reasons to join Usdaw

• Have more of a say in the hours you work

• Work shorter hours

• Receive more maternity pay

• Be offered some paid time off to care for your children

• Be covered by an equal opportunities policy

For more detailed information and an application form call the Usdaw helpline 0845 6060640 (calls charged at local rate) or e-mail: parentsandcarers@usdaw.org.uk.

Make sure you get your rights - join a union

Unions such as Usdaw can offer you help and advice on all your rights at work, as well as free expert legal services. Staff represented by a trade union are more likely to have better wages and conditions than those who aren't.

Join Usdaw today

To join or find out more about Usdaw: Call 0845 6060640 (calls charged at local rate), or use our join online form.

For more information about Usdaw and our campaigns, please contact your union rep or your nearest Usdaw office. Telephone: 0845 6060640 (calls charged at local rate) or e-mail: parentsandcarers@usdaw.org.uk.

Flexible working - your right to have a say in the hours you work (Leaflet 346) was correct at date of publication September 2008.

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© 2003 (USDAW) Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
This page: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/equality/resource_library/1109773615_11028.html
Last Modified: Wednesday, 24-Sep-2008 21:36:19 EST