Flexible working agreements

[HeadFairy]

Hello all, are there any HR/employment lawyer types on here? I’m trying to find out what the legal reasons can be for rejecting a flexible working request that has been in place for 15 years. Can jobs cuts be a justifiable reason? The company has at least 6,000 employees.

A change after a formal flexible working request is permanent, but that’s a red herring here. They can’t “reject” a request if it’s been accepted and in place for 15 years!

However, ultimately a company can potentially look to restructure as they see fit, within certain parameters. There are no “legal reasons” as such. But they can’t unilaterally change your contract without consent/consultation, and whether they can insist on the changes will depend on a number of factors, including your own personal circumstances.

An employer isn’t obliged to agree to a flexible working request, but they can only refuse on one of eight specific legal grounds, such as the burden of additional costs or planned structural changes. If the business is undergoing job cuts, redundancies, or a restructure, that can fall within the “planned structural changes” category and may therefore be a valid reason for refusal.

That said, the fact that you’ve had the arrangement in place for 15 years makes the situation a tad more complex. The employer would need to demonstrate what has changed to make it unworkable now. If the refusal is genuinely linked to restructuring or redundancies, that will usually be considered sufficient justification.

In summary, yes they can do this for job cuts.