# The Flexible Working Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations make provision for—
the condition as to the duration of employment which an employee must satisfy in order to make a flexible working application under Article 112F of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (S.I 1996/1919) (the “1996 Order”);
the form of any such application and when it is taken to be made;
the breaches of procedure which entitle an employee to make a complaint to an industrial tribunal; and
the maximum compensation that an industrial tribunal can award in relation to a complaint that an employer has failed to deal correctly with such an application.
Regulation 2 provides that these Regulations apply to any flexible working application made on or after 5th April 2015. The Flexible Working (Eligibility, Complaints and Remedies) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002 (S.R 2003 No. 174) are revoked but continue to apply to any such application made before 5th April 2015.
Regulation 3 requires an employee to have 26 weeks of continuous employment in order to make a flexible working application. The provisions of Chapter 3 of Part 1 of the 1996 Order determine the computation of continuous employment.
Regulation 4 provides that the application must be in writing, must be dated and must state if any previous flexible working applications have been made and, if so, when.
Regulation 5 provides that a flexible working application is made on the day it is received. The regulation sets out how the day of receipt is determined.
Regulation 6 specifies which breaches of the Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 entitle the employee to make a complaint to an industrial tribunal notwithstanding the fact that his application has not been disposed of by agreement or withdrawn.
Regulation 7 provides that 8 weeks’ pay of the employee is the maximum compensation that an industrial tribunal can award if it finds a complaint made by the employee under Article 112H of the 1996 Order is well-founded. A week’s pay is calculated in accordance with Chapter 4 of Part 1 of the 1996 Order. A week’s pay is subject to a maximum limit as set out in Article 23 of that Order.
An impact assessment has not been prepared for these Regulations. These Regulations are part of a package of legislative measures and the relevant impacts were assessed within the document ‘Sharing parental rights, extending flexibility at work – public consultation’, published in May 2013 (www.delni.gov.uk/index/consultation-zone/archived-consultations/archived-consultations-2013/working-parents-rights.htm), and supplemented by a further publication in April 2014 (www.delni.gov.uk/index/publications/equality-good-relations/shared-parental-leave-and-pay.htm).

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2015/105/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/flexible-working-regulations-northern-ireland-2015/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.