Flexible Working Appeal

Meeting with employee to discuss and consider the employee’s appeal in respect of their flexible working application

The employee has been formally invited to attend the appeal meeting in respect of their appeal against your original decision in respect of their application to work flexibly – usually, an employee will appeal when their application has been rejected by their employer and this note is based upon this scenario. This note assumes that the Company/employer does not have an internal process/policy on flexible working.

Introduce the meeting

Thank the employee for attending and introduce those present and their role in the meeting:

• Chair/manager: present to chair the appeal meeting, to listen to what is said and to make the decision in respect of the employee’s application. This person should be different to the Chair/manager who made the original decision in respect of the employee’s application and ought to be more senior, if possible.

• Employee: present to explain their appeal.

• Note taker: present to take notes to ensure a record is taken of the appeal meeting, not part of the decision-making process.

• Employee’s companion (a work colleague or a suitably qualified union representative) present at the request of the employee to help the employee communicate their application.

Explain the purpose of the meeting

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss and consider the employee’s appeal against the original outcome/decision in respect of their application to work flexibly.

Advise the employee that it is unlikely that the business will be able to make a decision today.

Summary of the original application

Summarise the detail of the original application made by the employee (i.e. what working pattern was the employee looking for and when did they want this to commence).

Summarise the employer’s original reason/s for rejecting the application

Summarise the employer’s original reason/s for rejecting the application (using the employer’s letter detailing this). Consider if any alternatives were suggested/considered.

Grounds for appeal

The employee should be asked to explain and run through their grounds for appeal. Their letter of appeal may be used as a guide for this – this will depend upon the level of detail in the employee’s letter.

Understanding should be sought of the employee’s grounds of appeal, why they are appealing and for what outcome they are looking.

Summarise and explain the next steps

Summarise what has been discussed in the meeting. Explain the next steps, i.e. that the appeal meeting will end, the employer will go away to consider the grounds for the employee’s appeal and the decision will be communicated in writing.

N.B.

The flexible working process should be completed within three months of the original request including any appeal.