The employee in this case had been on maternity leave and wanted to go part-time upon her return to work. Accordingly, she submitted a flexible working request which would enable her to work from home two days a week, with remote email access on those days. At the outset, the employer refused her request, citing security concerns around remote access to emails. The employee resigned before an appeal could take place, but at the appeal the employer offered to try out the requested arrangement for a three month period.

The EAT held that the employer’s offer rectified any possible detriment that the claimant. Note, however, that the EAT was dubious that the employee had suffered any detriment at all for two reasons. Firstly, the original decision to refuse her flexible working application was made subject to a right of appeal and, secondly, the decision to allow a flexible working trial period was made prior to the date the employee had been due to resume work. http://bit.ly/1gWgUFh