Mr G Oancea, Union representative Ms Jolita Spillman, Lithuanian and English Interpreter For the v Respondent — 2024

The claimant, a Heavy Goods Vehicle Driver, asked to change his working pattern from Tuesday to Saturday to Monday to Friday because of childcare arrangements. The respondent refused the request and rejected the appeal. The tribunal dismissed the direct sex discrimination claim, finding that the claim was not well-founded and, in the concluding passage available in the prompt, referring to genuine business reasons for the decisions.

The tribunal also dismissed the flexible working claim. It found that the claimant's applications did not comply with the statutory requirements in section 80F(2) because they did not set out what effect the proposed change would have on the respondent and how any such effect might be dealt with. In the alternative, if a valid request arose after clarification at the 8 June 2023 meeting, the final appeal outcome on 30 August 2023 was within three months; and if there had been a technical breach from an 11 May 2023 request, the tribunal said it would award nil compensation because the delay was primarily due to the claimant and his representative.