Is their physical condition one of the reasons they put in a flexible working request? If so is there no way that an agreement could be reached?
If you have already held the meeting re flexible working then I would go ahead and send the letter and state their right of appeal. It will be up to the employee to decide if they wish to attend an appeal while off or wait until they return. However if they have a condition that may impact their work, you might need to consider OH and one recommendation could be what the employee is requesting.

If you have not held the meeting hold off until they return to work.

What is the 'physical condition'?

In reply to Tracey:

The current condition is not the reason for the request at this time. It was mentioned after the initial refusal and as a justification for taking sick leave. While we are sympathetic to the seriousness of the condition, it does not warrant the flexibility that was specifically requested. It may require other adjustments or redeployment, but that is a topic for another discussion.

Following the initial request, a meeting was held where we explained why we could not accommodate it. During this meeting, the employee requested a modified version of the original request. They initially asked for a specific shift pattern, but then proposed a different pattern since we refused the first option. Upon reviewing this second pattern, we determined that it was also not feasible. This is one of those situations where the business is unable to accommodate everyone's desired shift pattern due to operational demands and cost.

Unfortunately, we were unable to communicate the outcome related to the second pattern. This is why I am seeking guidance on the best approach under the new legislation as there is a time limit but it's not clear how that works when the employee is absent. The employee is currently on potentially long-term leave due to their condition and we have not yet been able to inform them of our decision regarding their revised request.

Kind Regards,

Bobby

You may also want to have a look at the recent changes to flexible working given that if you are declining it you need to meet with the employee first to discuss before sending a letter. You also have 2 months to respond but this may be extended with agreement.

Quite a tricky one to advise on as the details are scare - which I understand you may not be able to expand on.

In reply to Bobby:

Hi Bobby you can also give the employment law helpline a call - it's part of your member benefits and available 24/7. You'll be able to chat through your sceanrio with a trained adviser. www.cipd.org/.../

In reply to Bobby:

I'd zoom out a little wider on this. Is any flexibility on shift patterns allowed or been permitted previously? Is the business concerned that if they let one person have flex, others might follow? How do you find recruiting and retaining your talent generally? What is the diversity make up of the team concerned?

I get it's hard to square flex with business needs and there is often a lot of fear about allowing people flexibility when it's not been done before and yet, I think we need to stop, consider the other factors and also check in how this fits with the bigger picture.

I see a lot of businesses who espouse great values, sell well at the recruitment stage and or talk about the importance of diverse teams and then don't back it up practically. Hopefully, this scenario is a world away from that.