Employment tribunals (flexible working)

Complaints to Employment Tribunals

With regard to flexible working, employees must present their complaint to an Employment Tribunal within three months of the date that the employer's decision is notified on appeal or in complaints relating to procedural breaches, three months from the date of the alleged breach.

Complaints can be made to an Employment Tribunal on the following grounds:

The employer's failure to comply with the statutory procedure
The employer's use of an incorrect fact to explain why the application has been refused and which the employer failed to address at the appeal

Remedies and compensation

If a decision is made against an employer by an Employment Tribunal or an Acas arbitrator, the employer may be ordered to reconsider the employee's application for flexible working and may also be ordered to pay the employee compensation.

The actual amount of compensation will be determined by the Tribunal or the Acas arbitrator on the basis of what is considered to be just and equitable given the circumstances of the case.

The maximum level of compensation is eight weeks' pay subject to the statutory limit on a week's pay, which is reviewed annually (£380 from 1 October 2009).

If a complaint of refusal to allow the employee to be accompanied is upheld, the tribunal or arbitrator can award two weeks pay in compensation.

Dismissal and detriment

Employees are protected from suffering dismissal or detriment in the exercise of their right to apply to work flexibly.

If an employee is dismissed while exercising any of their rights, this may render the dismissal as automatically unfair. However, if there has been a breach or an abuse of the rights by the employee, the employer can take appropriate disciplinary action.

An Employment Tribunal can:

Make a declaration where there have been breaches, and specify how the employer can address these. If there has been contributory negligence on the part of the employee, then the Tribunal will also declare this
Make a recommendation to the parties on what measures to put in place to avoid future disputes
Make an award for compensation to the aggrieved person if there has been a loss or detriment

Time Limits

Applications to an employment tribunal must be made within three months from the date of the complaint of the discriminatory act, or by the date of refusal by the employer in the case of requests for leave and time off.

This time limit can only be extended on a 'just and equitable' basis where there is a very good reason for the extension.