§ The Minister for Employment Relations, Industry and the Regions (Alan Johnson)I am today laying before Parliament an affirmative Statutory Instrument which details the procedure which the employer will have a statutory duty to follow when an eligible employee makes an application to work flexibly under the new right.
These new regulations provide the detail to the flexible working provision set out in broad terms in the Employment Act 2002, which received Royal Assent in July. They detail each stage of the procedure and how decisions on applications to work flexibly should be notified to the employee. They also provide an employee with a right to be accompanied at the meeting to discuss the application and, if necessary, at appeal. A companion may be any worker employed by the same employer. The regulations also specify the procedure for making a complaint to an employment tribunal when an employer fails to comply with the right to be accompanied and allows a tribunal to make an award of up to two weeks' pay. A week's pay will be subject to the cap provided under the Employment Rights Act 1996.
These regulations, subject to their approval by both Houses, will be followed by two negative Statutory Instruments. One will set out the details of the eligibility criteria, complaints and remedies. These specify that the maximum amount of compensation an employment tribunal may award for breaches of the procedure (other than failure to allow a companion) or where a decision by the employer to reject the application is based on incorrect facts, is eight week's pay. A week's pay will again be subject to the cap. The other negative Statutory Instrument will concern the extension of the ACAS arbitration scheme to cover the right to request.
The detail of this new right has been the subject of a three-month public consultation. The right will come into effect next April, at the same time as the Government extends maternity leave and pay and introduces paid paternity and adoption leave. Together these new rights will provide more choice and support 45WS for working parents to help them balance their work and family responsibilities, to the benefit of employers, employees and their children.
A Regulatory Impact Assessment will be placed in the libraries of both Houses today.