The ‘business reasons’ for rejecting a request

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A request must be considered objectively. It can only be rejected for one of these business reasons (section 80G(1)(b) ERA 96):

• the burden of extra costs;

• inability to organise work among existing staff;

• inability to recruit extra staff;

• detrimental impact on quality;

• detrimental impact on performance;

• detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand;

• insufficient work for the periods the employee wants to work; or

• a planned structural change to the business.

Ideally an employer’s approach should be set out in a clear written policy.

It is not enough for the employer simply to assert one of these eight business reasons and then sit back. Instead, they must actively investigate whether the request can be met and if so how. This includes listening to the employee’s views. An employment tribunal would not second-guess an employer’s assessment that working from home would be detrimental to the business unless that assessment is obviously unreasonable. However, the tribunal would expect to see the evidence the employer relied on to make their assessment (Commotion v Rutty [2006] IRLR 171).

The business reasons available to refuse any request are very wide, but it is useful to notice what is not covered. Concern over “precedent setting” regarding future requests by other members of staff is not a good reason for rejecting a request. Instead, each request should be considered on its own merits.