All employees have the legal right to request flexible working, and they can make a request from their first day in a job. Employers must deal with requests in a reasonable manner, and can refuse an application if they have a good business reason for doing so. This guide covers how to ask, what your employer must do and what to do if you are refused.
Key points
✓Employees can make a request for flexible working from their first day in a job.
✓Employees can make 2 applications for flexible working in any 12-month period, and the employer must make a decision, including any appeal, within 2 months, or longer if agreed with the employee.
✓The employer must discuss the employee's request with them before refusing their application.
✓If the employer disagrees, they must tell the employee giving the business reasons for the refusal.
✓Employees cannot complain to a tribunal just because their flexible working request was refused.
What changed in April 2024?
Section 1 of the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 came into force on 6 April 2024. The commencement regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland. That brought in these changes:
Regulation 3 of the Flexible Working Regulations 2014, which required an employee to have 26 weeks of continuous employment to make a flexible working application, was omitted on 6 April 2024
An employee may not make more than two applications to the same employer during any period of 12 months
The decision period is the period of two months beginning with the date on which the application is made, or such longer period as may be agreed by the employer and the employee
An employer shall not refuse the application unless the employee has been consulted about the application
Acas says anyone with the legal status of employee has the statutory right to request flexible working, and that someone is not likely to be an employee if they are an agency worker, a casual worker or on a zero-hours contract.
Northern Ireland: GOV.UK says flexible working rules are different in Northern Ireland. nidirect says you must be an employee but not an agency worker (other than those returning from a period of parental leave or in the armed forces), have worked for your employer for 26 weeks continuously before applying, and have not made another application to work flexibly under the right during the past 12 months.
What counts as flexible working?
GOV.UK says employees can request a change to:
the number of hours they work
when they start or finish work
the days they work
where they work
GOV.UK describes these ways of working flexibly:
Job sharing: two people do one job and split the hours
Remote working and working from home: working from anywhere other than the employee's usual workplace, which can include working from home
Hybrid working: a combination of working remotely and working in the employee's usual workplace
Part time: working less than full-time hours, usually by working fewer days
Compressed hours: working full-time hours but over fewer days, for example a 9-day fortnight
Flexitime: the employee chooses when to start and end work, within agreed limits, but works certain core hours
Annualised hours: the employee has to work a certain number of hours over the year but has some flexibility about when they work
Staggered hours: the employee has different start, finish and break times from other workers
Phased retirement: older workers can choose when they want to retire, which means they can reduce their hours and work part time
Acas says flexible working arrangements can be agreed without using the statutory procedure, but then it is not necessary to follow the statutory procedure and Acas Code, and there is no statutory protection from unfair dismissal and detriment under the law on flexible working requests.
How to make a flexible working request
Acas says that to make a statutory request you must put it in writing, either in a letter or email, and say it is a statutory request for flexible working. GOV.UK says the application must include:
the date of the request
a statement that this is a statutory request for flexible working
details of how the employee wants to work flexibly and when they want to start
a statement saying if and when they have made a previous application, including the date of the previous request
1
Write and send your request
GOV.UK says an employee should email or write a letter to their employer, and that employers may ask employees to use a standard form to make an application. Acas says to check whether your organisation's flexible working policy says who to send your request to, and that if there is no policy you should send your request to your employer or manager, either by email or letter.
2
Check the limits
Acas says you can make a maximum of 2 requests during any 12-month period, and only have one live request with the same employer at a time. A request stays live until your employer makes a decision, you withdraw your request, you and your employer agree an outcome, or it has been 2 months since the date of your request, and it stays live during any appeal and any agreed extension to the 2-month decision period.
3
Your employer discusses it with you
GOV.UK says the employer must discuss the employee's request with them before refusing their application. Acas says employers must consult the employee before making a decision, unless they accept it in full. Acas also says there is no legal right to be accompanied to a flexible working request meeting, but employers should allow this if an employee makes a reasonable request, and if the request is reasonable should allow them to bring another employee or a trade union representative.
4
Receive a decision
GOV.UK says the employer discusses the employee's request with them and makes a decision on it within 2 months, or longer if agreed with the employee. If the employer agrees to the request, GOV.UK says they must change the terms and conditions in the employee's contract. GOV.UK says the employer can treat an application as withdrawn if the employee misses 2 meetings to discuss an application or appeal without good reason, and that the employer must tell the employee they are treating the request as withdrawn.
GOV.UK says employers can refuse an application for any of the following reasons:
extra costs that will damage the business
the work cannot be reorganised among other staff
people cannot be recruited to do the work
flexible working will affect quality
flexible working will affect performance
the business will not be able to meet customer demand
there is a lack of work to do during the proposed working times
the business is planning changes to the workforce
Business reasons only. An employer shall only refuse the application because they consider that one or more of the grounds in section 80G applies. GOV.UK says that if the employer disagrees, they must tell the employee giving the business reasons for the refusal, and that before refusing it they must have discussed the employee's request with them.
Coming change: Acas says there will be an amendment to flexible working law: if an employer rejects a flexible working request, they will have to state the business reason, or reasons from a list of 8 acceptable reasons, and explain why they believe their refusal is reasonable. Acas lists it among the 2027 changes and says the government has not announced when in 2027 most of these changes will happen.
What to do if your request is refused
1
Check how your employer handled it
GOV.UK says employers must deal with requests in a reasonable manner, and gives these examples: assessing the advantages and disadvantages of the application, discussing possible alternatives to the request, and offering an appeal process. The employer must tell the employee that they have refused the application.
2
Appeal or raise it through the company procedure
GOV.UK says employees no longer have a statutory right to an appeal but may still be able to appeal, and should check with their employer if they offer an appeals process. The employee must follow the company's procedures for appealing, and the employee or employer should follow the company's procedures for solving a workplace dispute if an application that has been refused causes problems. Acas says that if an employer allows an appeal, they must make their final decision within 2 months of the date of the original request, unless the employee and employer agree to extend it.
3
Get advice and notify Acas
The Acas helpline number is 0300 123 1100. Before you make a claim to an employment tribunal you must tell Acas, which will offer early conciliation that is voluntary, and if it does not work or you choose not to take part Acas will send you an early conciliation certificate.
4
Employment tribunal claim
GOV.UK says employees can complain to an employment tribunal if the employer did not handle the request in a reasonable manner, wrongly treated the employee's application as withdrawn, dismissed or treated an employee poorly because of their flexible working request, or refused an application based on incorrect facts. GOV.UK says an employee should usually complain to the tribunal within 6 months of hearing their employer's decision on their application or appeal, hearing their request was treated as withdrawn, or the date the employer should have responded to their request but failed to do so. Acas says that if a problem at work started before 1 October 2026, the 3-month limit might still apply.
Where an employment tribunal finds a complaint well-founded it must make a declaration to that effect and may make an order for reconsideration of the application and make an award of compensation. The amount is such amount as the tribunal considers just and equitable in all the circumstances, and the maximum amount of compensation is 8 weeks' pay. Acas says that if a case reaches an employment tribunal, the judge will consider whether the employer and employee have followed the Acas Code.
Acas says that by law employees are protected from unfair dismissal and detriment for statutory flexible working requests. Detriment means being treated worse than before or having your situation made worse. That protection applies when making a statutory flexible working request, planning to make a request, raising an issue with the employer related to the request, or making a legal claim related to the request. An employee who is dismissed is regarded as unfairly dismissed if the reason, or the principal reason, for the dismissal is that the employee made, or proposed to make, a flexible working application, and the usual qualifying period of continuous employment does not apply.
Acas says that under discrimination law (Equality Act 2010) an employer must not disadvantage someone because of a protected characteristic, and that this applies to flexible working requests, including the way the employer handles the request, the decision it makes, and how it handles any information an employee shares. In an Acas example, an employer refuses a man's request for a later start time because it thinks childcare is less important to men, and if there is no genuine business reason to refuse the request, this is likely to be direct discrimination because of sex. Our protected characteristics guide explains each one.
Flexible working and disability
Acas says a reasonable adjustment is a change that removes or reduces a disadvantage related to someone's disability, and that by law (Equality Act 2010) employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. The legal duty to make reasonable adjustments is separate to the legal duty to consider a flexible working request.
If a disabled employee makes a flexible working request related to their disability, Acas says the employer must follow both the statutory procedure for flexible working requests and the law on reasonable adjustments when making a decision. An employer does not need to follow the law on reasonable adjustments if the request does not relate to the employee's disability, for example if they request to reduce their hours to study part time.
Acas gives these examples of reasonable adjustments:
changing someone's working patterns
flexible working, including home or hybrid working
a phased return to work after absence
If someone does not get the reasonable adjustments they need, Acas says they could make a claim to an employment tribunal. Our reasonable adjustments guide covers how to ask for them.
Flexible working for carers
Acas says that if an employee has children or caring responsibilities, they must follow the same request procedure as other employees. GOV.UK describes unpaid carer's leave this way:
✓Yes: Employees are entitled to unpaid leave to give or arrange care for a dependant who has a physical or mental illness or injury that means they are expected to need care for more than 3 months, a disability, or care needs because of their old age
✓Yes: Employees are entitled to carer's leave from their first day of work for their employer
✓Yes: Employees can take up to one week of leave every 12 months, and a week means the length of time they usually work over 7 days
✓Yes: They can either take a whole week off or take individual days or half days throughout the year
Yes. Employees can make a request for flexible working from their first day in a job. Employees can make 2 applications for flexible working in any 12-month period.
Can my employer refuse my flexible working request?
An employer can refuse an application if they have a good business reason for doing so, and GOV.UK lists the reasons it can give. The employer must discuss the employee's request with them before refusing their application. Employees cannot complain to a tribunal just because their flexible working request was refused.
How long does my employer have to respond to a flexible working request?
The employer must make a decision within 2 months of the request, or longer if agreed with the employee, and Acas says that includes any appeal. An employee can complain to a tribunal if the employer did not handle the request in a reasonable manner, and the maximum amount of compensation is 8 weeks' pay.
What if my flexible working request is refused because of my disability?
Acas says the legal duty to make reasonable adjustments is separate to the legal duty to consider a flexible working request. If a disabled employee makes a flexible working request related to their disability, the employer must follow both the statutory procedure for flexible working requests and the law on reasonable adjustments when making a decision.
Know Your Rights UK. "Flexible Working Rights UK: How to Make a Request." Know Your Rights UK, https://www.knowyourrightsuk.com/employment/flexible-working