Flexible Working

[Mimigolightly]

I have been in my current job for 2 years now - it is a small company. For the first 18 months I was working in a shared office with 2 others and everything was great. We then had to vacate that office as the building was being torn down so - rather than rent a new office for the 3 of us - we had to split up. I ended up in a large, walk-in cupboard at one of our locations with no natural light and a damp problem. Almost immediately I got sick and have been ill, off and on, ever since.

Last week, the furniture in my office was collected by the person who used to rent the office on a part-time basis so I was left with just my PC - no desk or chairs. Since this time I have been working from home and have found that I much prefer it to working in a dank, dark cupboard.

I have asked my boss if we can make this a permanent arrangement as he knows that I can do all of my work from home as it's all online. Also, as I haven't had a pay rise in all the time I've been there I reasoned that it would save me money so I wouldn't need a raise. He said no straight away with no reason. I let him know that I was disappointed and sent him an official application under The Employment Act 1996 for Flexible Working.

Is there anything else I can do?

Hi Mimigolightly.

Submitting a formal flexible working request is the right step to take for request a change to the place you work, i.e from home rather than from the office. Your employer is obliged to respond to this in a reasonable manner and can only reject your request for a reason that is one of the eight specified reasons set out in the flexible working legislation. If he fails to deal with your request within a reasonable manner, within the specified time frame or rejects it without proper grounds then he would be in breach of the regulations and you would have grounds for a claim.

You could still bring a formal complaint (by way of a formal grievance) about the state of the office, as if it is really dark and damp and making you ill, then this a health and safety issue. You could also raise the issue of the lack of payrise, if you have reason to expect one.

Although, I guess if your flexible working request is accepted there would arguably be no need to raise these complaints.

I hope that helps.

Thanks for your reply - it was very helpful.

My boss came back today and said I could work from home while they're looking into the formal request. His only proviso was that I come into town for a meeting on a Friday which I had told him I would do anyway.