flexible working refused is this a legitimate excuse?

[m0therofdragons]

Dh has requested working from home 1 day a week. His senior manager said his request was reasonable to him but his line manager would need to check there was nothing that would be problematic. Senior manager is now on holiday and line manager has refused it as he's spoken to hr and the company has no home-working policy so dh cannot work from home. It's a national company and others in different offices work from home but apparently this doesn't count as a precedent as the company has been taken over by a new one and the new one is honouring existing agreements but has no policy.
Can it really be denied for this reason?

They are under no obligation to provide it I don't think but the best thing to do is call ACAS who are great.

I was told they can only deny with a legitimate reason but that is all down to interpretation as to what is legitimate. Seems only women get to work from home

According to Acas, the following reasons are the only ones allowed:
"If you reject the request it must be for one of the following business
reasons as set out in the legislation:
• the burden of additional costs
• an inability to reorganise work amongst existing staff
• an inability to recruit additional staff
• a detrimental impact on quality
• a detrimental impact on performance
• detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
• insufficient work for the periods the employee proposes to work
• a planned structural change to your business."
www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/f/e/Code-of-Practice-on-handling-in-a-reasonable-manner-requests-to-work-flexibly.pdf

So basically anything!

All they have to say is that they are concerned about performance or something.

They have to give at least one of the above reasons and explain why/how that reason applies in these specific circumstances. A company doesn't need a home working policy in order to allow someone to work from home.

Did he reassure them he had childcare in place, if that is relevant? Would he be requiring any additional equipment to work from home or similar?

He is providing own equipment. We live 10 minutes away so could go into work if technical issues were a problem, no one would have to take on any of his roles.
The only other thing she said was dh has said that when she is on holiday he will of course go in as he covers her work (5 weeks a year) but she said she may need him to cover and only decide on that day. Er well it hasn't happened in 2 years and the request is only until September so unlikely.
We have a trainee nanny who will care for our 2 pre schoolers but as she's new to it we thought it best if dh is at home. It's only half a day so technically dh can go into work from 2pm but it's not really necessary on the day he's requested.

Has he said the only childcare available needs supervision? That may not have gone down well.

Either way, if they haven't followed the correct procedure and haven't given sufficient business reasons he should follow that up.

They don't need supervision just someone in the house. I've worked from home like this for almost 3 years but have been promoted and need to be in the office more. Technically we could leave dc with the trainee as she's an adult and seems capable but I feel happier if dh was working at home and he felt there would be no problem with that. His line manager is often difficult, regularly refusing to authorise holiday until the day before etc so I'm not surprised. My dc love the girl and she's a friend's daughter so I like being able to help with her course. She's only 18 though so two 3 year olds will take getting used to. Other option is more hours at nursery but will cost lots more and not help friend's daughter.
Previously we had an au pair but as twins were so young I felt I should be around in case needed.

I would think only reasons 4, 5 or 6 above could possibly apply. They may do, I don't know.

If your childcare provider needs supervised, could this impact on your DH's ability to perform his work to the required quality standard? Does he have to contact customers, and would this be affected by having to supervise your childcare provider?

Here's another idea. Instead of asking to work at home 1 day a week, could one - or even both of you - apply for compressed hours, so that you do 100% of your hours but over 4 days instead of 5? Assuming this is appropriate for your jobs.

Did he submit a formal flexible working request?

If he is 10 mins away he is on call for home emergencies effectively, right?

Can he take a few days off whilst she settles in? Or work from home her first couple of weeks?

She doesn't need supervision but an adult in the house. Dh will be working in the study (two flights of stairs up from playroom, living room etc . And yes he would be able to get to the office very quickly.
compressed hours not appropriate for our roles. The other 4 days a week dh is managing staff so needs to be in work but one day a week he is working on a solo project so he could easily do it from home. director supports his application, his manager is notoriously awkward. :(