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In what circumstances can an employer reject a request for flexible working?

Is there any right of appeal where an employer rejects an application for flexible working?

On what grounds might an employee appeal a decision to refuse a statutory flexible working request?

Where the employer decides to uphold an appeal against the refusal of a statutory request for flexible working, is it obliged to arrange a meeting to discuss the appeal?

In what circumstances can an employer regard a request for flexible working as having been withdrawn?

If an employee’s application for flexible working under the statutory procedure is treated as having been withdrawn can he or she make another request for flexible working?

If an employee withdraws his or her statutory application for flexible working can he or she make another request for flexible working?

What should an employer do if an employee raises a complaint about the way in which his or her statutory flexible working request has been handled?

Can an employer withdraw from a flexible working agreement if the arrangements are no longer in its interests?

What should an employer do if it suspects that an employee is abusing the statutory right to request flexible working procedure?

Can an employee make as many requests for flexible working as he or she wishes?

If a flexible working request is granted, can the employee request another change to working patterns at a later date?

Where an employer accepts an employee's application to change from full-time to part-time work must it permit a change back to full-time work if the employee later requests this?

How close to a child's 17th birthday can an application for flexible working be made?

Is an employee who is requesting flexible working required to demonstrate that the child or adult in relation to whom the application is being made requires a particular level of care?

In relation to the statutory right to request flexible working, how is "relative" defined?

Do adoptive parents and legal guardians qualify for the right to request flexible working?


Do grandparents have any right to paid or unpaid leave to spend time with their grandchildren?

Grandparents have no right under UK employment law to paid or unpaid leave to spend time with their grandchildren in their capacity as grandparents. However, they may have rights to parental leave in very limited circumstances. The right to parental leave is exercisable by an employee who has one year's continuous employment with the employer and has, or expects to have, formal parental responsibility for a child. Grandparents can acquire parental responsibility either by adopting a child or by a residence order being made in favour of them. However, the cases in which this is likely to happen will be extremely rare. If parental responsibility for a child is acquired by the grandparents, they will be entitled to take parental leave for the purpose of caring for that child.

The period of parental leave is 18 weeks for each child, which must be exercised before the child's fifth birthday or before the fifth anniversary of the child's adoption (prior to 8 March 2013 entitlement was to 13 weeks' parental leave per child). If the child is disabled, up to 18 weeks' parental leave may be taken up until the child's 18th birthday.

Grandparents may also be able to make a statutory application for flexible working arrangements to enable them to care for a grandchild who is under the age of 17 (or under the age of 18 if disabled), but only if they either adopt or become the legal guardian of the child and they have responsibility for the child's upbringing. Again, the circumstances in which this situation will arise will be rare. In this case, they will need to have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks at the date the flexible working application is made.

Grandparents have no entitlement to take either paternity leave or adoption leave.

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