No response to flexible working request. 14 days are now up so what do we do now?

[citybranch]

DH has made a flexible working request and the 14 days have now passed with no response at all.
What should he do now?

He does not have very good relationship with his manager, she has been very obstructive in the past (refused on 3 seperate occasions to let him book a days annual leave to take seriously DSS - who is DH's 10 year old - to Great Ormond Street etc) so DH feels the need to be more formal than just a friendly call or email.

Is there a recommended route to go down if a manager does not respond within the 14 days? Should he go straight to the manager above her, or tell HR, or go to the union?

Is he a member of the union? If so I suggest he joins sharpish. Not sure sure of the best next move really. Have you looked at the directgov web pages?

It doesn't bode well for the request does it? But my DH recently successfully sued his old company for refusing a flexible working request.

I would also speak to HR about the requests for leave to take DSS to hospital, especially since he was requesting AL and not special parental leave which I imagine he would have been entitled to.

yes, he is a member of the union, and he is going to get in touch with a rep this week.

DH would like to part time you see, and his colleague would like to go full time so they want to do a swap... it is the same role, same hourly pay so should be just a simple matter. However it is not usually the done thing so they decided to do it as a flexible working request. I can't see that they could refuse it for business reasons?

Regarding the leave, apparently you are not entitled to parental leave if the child does not live with you full time. So DH puts in for annual leave days which she just refuses!

Sounds like your DH's boss is a bit of a twat. DH says going to HR and keep the union in the loop. They need a really good reason to refuse a flexible working request, and since this sounds like a really simple situation with minimal impact on the business they will be hard press to refuse. Make sure DH keeps note of all correspondence.

I would send an email to the manager saying that you haven't had a response and give it a couple of days. If still no answer, go to his boss.

BTW, the manager is talking rot about leave. You are entitled to parental leave as a biological parent who does not live at the same address. The complication is that, unless your DSS is entitled to disability living allowance, parentla leave has to be taken in blocks of one week...

Does your DSS qualify for disability living allowance? If not then he is too old to qualify for parental leave (which goes up to the child's 5th birthday).

However, because your DH's son does not live in your household then I think that's where his boss has got the idea that he doesn't qualify for time off to deal with an emergency. This is, as Ribena says, not correct. Directgov classes a "dependent" as "anyone who reasonably relies on you for help in an emergency" which sounds more like your situation.

I would suggest emailing the boss in a friendly way (I know he wants it formal but an email is written communication) and cc HR in too so she knows he's serious. Something along the lines of "I was hoping you'd had a chance to look at my flexible working request - I just wanted to remind you that the 14 days have now elapsed and I've not
heard from you. Did you perhaps send a letter to my home address? If so I'm afraid I've not received it. Would you be able to give me a copy or let me know what is happening by close of business today?" Save a copy so there's a trail if things get worse.

It's also worth checking if his company has a policy about time off for dependents, family emergencies or compassionate leave.

I had the same problem, except I waited until more than a month had gone by and then I phoned my union. They were quite helpful and said that since employers don't have the obligation to grant you flexible working, it's best not to annoy them too much (e.g. by threatening legal action) unless it's the last resort (they're likely to just say no and make up a business-related reason). She advised me to phone my boss, which I did and was all nervous since I had already prepared myself for a 'no' by then. But he was fine, agreed straight away and said he simply hadn't gotten round replying . So I would definitely try to have a friendly chat with the boss before anything else... Good luck!

It's very likely that the manager doesn't know there is a tight timescale set out in law for responding to flexible working requests, so I'd give her the benefit of the doubt at first. I would suggest a quick email to her, just chasing politely, mentioning (in a nice way) the 14 day deadline and assuring her that if she needs any further information that he will be happy to provide it.

Then get more formal after that if no progress.

Sorry. Manic is right, I skipped your DSS's age in your original post. Sorry.

I will admit I shamelessly pinched Ribena's idea