Everything you need to know about Flexible Working

What is Flexible Working?

When an employee is able to work when, where, and how they like, this is called flexible working. By law, an employee has a legal right to request flexible working from their first day of employment.

This might look like:

• Working from home

• Hybrid working

• Compressed hours

• Part-time hours

• Flexitime

Why Flexible Work?

Flexibility at work is good for both employees and employers when it's done right.

For employees, flexible working can help people:

• Fit work around life, not the other way round

• Look after their health and wellbeing (less stress, fewer burnouts)

• Go for jobs they might otherwise rule out because of hours, location, or rigid work patterns

  
  

For employers, flexible working can:

• Attract great people and keep hold of them

• Help employees work better, not longer

• Keep teams happier, more motivated, and more engaged

• Make it easier to recruit for roles that are tricky to fill

• Build a more diverse and inclusive workforce

How to request flexible working

If an employee makes a formal (statutory) flexible working request, their employer has to follow a set process. But not every request has to be formal, sometimes a quick conversation is all it takes.

Informal Requests (the easy route)

Employees and employers can agree flexible working without using the formal process. This might work well if:

• Someone just wants to have a quick chat first

• The change is short-term or urgent

• The employee has already made two formal requests that year

• The employee doesn’t have the legal right to make a formal request (for example, before their start date)

  
  

If an informal request works for both sides, no legal process needed.

Formal (statutory) requests

If an employee makes a formal flexible working request, the employer must:

• Handle it reasonably and fairly

• Consider it properly and not dismiss it automatically

• Discuss alternatives if the exact request can’t work

• Make a decision within two months

• Only refuse it if there’s a genuine business reason

• Not treat the employee unfairly because they asked

  
  

Employers can:

• Accept the request

• Accept part of it

• Or refuse it (with a genuine business reason)

If a change is agreed

If flexible working is agreed, either formally or informally, it will usually mean a change to the employment contract. This might affect things like:

• Working hours

• Work location

• Job role

• Pay

  
  

If contract terms change, the employer needs to confirm this in writing within one month.

Flexible working and disability

Sometimes flexible working isn’t just a preference, it’s a need. In these situations, there are two different routes a request might fall under:

• A reasonable adjustment request

• A statutory flexible working request 

  
  

Which option is best depends on the individual situation, and it’s worth taking a moment to think this through before making a request.

Reasonable adjustments

A reasonable adjustment is a change that removes or reduces a disadvantage linked to someone’s disability. Employers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees where they are reasonable to do so.

Flexible working requests and disability

The legal duty to make reasonable adjustments is separate from the duty to consider flexible working requests. If a flexible working request is linked to an employee’s disability, employers may need to consider both:

• The flexible working process, and

• Their duty to make reasonable adjustments

  
  

This can get complicated, and it’s an area where employers need to be particularly careful. We’ll be covering reasonable adjustments, disability, and how these requests work in practice in a separate, dedicated post, including how to decide which route to take and what employers should be thinking about.

How to make a request

As an employee, you will need to put your request in writing, and it's always best to make your request with as much notice as possible.

Your request must include:

• The mention of 'statutory request' for flexible working

• The date of your request

• The change you're requesting

• When you'd like the change to start

• If you have made any previous statutory flexible working requests to your employer including the dates

You should check your company's flexible working policy so you know who this requests should be sent to. Ordinarily, it would be HR and/or your line manager.

Considering a request

If an employee makes a statutory flexible working request, there are a few things you, as an employer, need to do:

• Say yes unless there’s a genuine business reason not to

• Talk it through with the employee before deciding (unless you’re agreeing to it in full)

• Make a final decision (including any appeal) within two months

• Handle the request fairly and reasonably

  
  

When you’re considering a request, it helps to start from “what could work?” rather than “why this won’t work”. Not every type of flexible working will be right for every role, but in most cases, there’s usually something that can work with a bit of flexibility and discussion.

When dealing with flexible working requests, discrimination law still applies. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers must not disadvantage someone because of a protected characteristic, including things like age, disability, pregnancy or maternity, race, sex, religion or belief, sexual orientation, and gender reassignment.

This applies to every part of the flexible working process, from how you handle the request, to the decision you make, and how you treat any personal information an employee shares along the way.

In short: be fair, be consistent, and be mindful of the bigger picture.

What's the future of flexible work going to look like?

From 2027, if a request is refused for a genuine business reason, employers will have to:

• State the reason for the refusal

• Explain why that refusal is reasonable

  
  

Many employers already do this, but it will become a legal requirement, not just good practice.

For employees, it means more transparency and fewer vague or unexplained refusals, and for employers, it means decisions need to be properly thought through and explained, not just a quick “that won’t work”. It doesn’t mean every request has to be approved. It does mean flexible working requests should be treated as a real conversation, with clear reasoning on both sides.