The next step

Trial flexible working arrangement

[Letter]

Confirming trial flexible working arrangement

[Letter]

Revoking trial flexible working arrangement

[Letter]

Using trial periods to assess feasibility of flexible working

Why consider a trial period?

Even following the 6 April 2024 changes, the statutory flexible working provisions still don’t explicitly provide for trial periods. However, the new Acas Code of Practice on requests for flexible working does now say that, when holding a consultation meeting with your employee to consider their flexible working request, “it may be helpful to discuss whether a trial period may be appropriate to assess the feasibility of an arrangement” . You could therefore propose a trial period where you have reasonable doubts about whether the employee’s proposed flexible working arrangement will work for the business.

Tip. Look at the eight statutory business reasons for rejecting a flexible working request and consider whether your concerns about feasibility relate to one or more of them. Ultimately, if you reject the employee’s request after their trial, these are what you’ll need to rely on.

Implementing a trial period

Once you’ve agreed a trial period, confirm it in writing and make clear the start and end dates (see The next step ). Also schedule a review meeting for just before the trial ends.

Tip. You can decide how long the trial will be. It needs to be long enough for you to make a fair assessment of it, e.g. one to two months.

Trap. A trial period defers your decision on the employee’s flexible working request until after the trial ends. Therefore, you’ll probably need to seek their agreement to extend the current two-month period for making a decision on their request. Try to get this decision period extended until a month after the trial ends, to also give you time to deal with any appeal if you later reject their request. Confirm the agreed extension in writing.

Confirming the trial arrangement

If the trial period is a success, let the employee know this at your review meeting and check they still want to continue with the flexible working arrangement. If they do, confirm the position in writing, setting out their new permanent working pattern and any consequent changes to their employment terms (see The next step ).

Tip. Warn the employee that as this change to their working pattern is now permanent they can’t change their mind about it at a future date.

Revoking the trial arrangement

If the trial period isn’t successful, notify the employee at your review meeting and state that they’ll revert to their previous working pattern from the next working day after the trial ends. Confirm this in writing (see The next step ).

Trap. As you’re now rejecting the employee’s flexible working request, you must ensure your decision is for one or more of the eight statutory business reasons. You must cover these in your letter, and you should also set out any additional information which is reasonable to help explain your decision. Also give a right of appeal.

For a trial flexible working arrangement letter, a letter confirming trial flexible working arrangement and a letter revoking trial flexible working arrangement, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 26, issue 9.