Flexible working requests: the rules now.

Since 6 April 2024, every employee in Great Britain can make a statutory request for flexible working from their first day: different hours, a different pattern, or working from somewhere else.

• They can make two requests in any 12 months.
• They no longer have to explain how the change would affect the business.

In Northern Ireland the earlier rules still apply.

The Acas Code of Practice says you must agree to a request unless there is a genuine business reason not to. A tribunal takes the Code into account.

• Consult them before you refuse. You can’t turn a request down without talking it through with them first. Letting them bring a colleague is good practice.
• Decide within two months of receiving it, including any appeal, unless they agree to longer.
• If you refuse, explain the business reason clearly in writing.

A trial period, or agreeing part of what they asked for, is often a good answer.

You can refuse only for one or more of these (section 80G of the Employment Rights Act 1996):

• the extra costs would damage the business;
• you couldn’t meet customer demand;
• the work can’t be reorganised among other staff;
• you can’t recruit extra staff;
• it would affect quality;
• it would affect performance;
• there isn’t enough work during the hours they want to work;
• you are planning changes to the workforce.

There is no statutory right to appeal a refusal, but the Acas Code calls offering one good practice, and an appeal must fit inside the two months.

An employee can’t go to a tribunal just because their request was refused. They can claim if you didn’t handle it properly: you didn’t consult, missed the deadline, refused for a reason not on the list, or based it on wrong facts. A tribunal can award up to 8 weeks’ pay, with a week’s pay capped by law.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 (section 9) adds a test of reasonableness. You will be able to refuse only if it is reasonable to do so, and you will have to say why you think it is. GOV.UK’s timeline plans this for October 2027. It is not in force yet, and the date may change.

See the Employment Rights Act 2025 timeline for the other changes.

Keep the request, the date you received it, your notes of the meeting, the decision and the reason, so you can show the deadline was met and the process followed.

In KivoHR, staff make the request in the app. Whoever decides is told when it arrives, and the two months are counted from that day. A refusal needs one of the eight reasons and a recorded consultation first, an appeal can be offered after a refusal, and only two requests are taken in any 12 months. The person is told of each decision, and every step is kept in the audit log.