Flexible Working Requests: Day-One Right (2024)

Since 6 April 2024, every employee has had the right to request flexible working from their first day of employment, no qualifying service required, under the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023.

What Is the Right to Request Flexible Working?

The right to request flexible working lets an employee ask their employer to change their hours, times or place of work, for example moving to part-time hours, compressing a working week into fewer days, or working from home on certain days. It is a right to make a request and have it properly considered, not a right to have every request granted; an employer can lawfully refuse it, provided the refusal relies on one of 8 statutory business grounds and the correct process was followed. Since 6 April 2024, the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 and the accompanying regulations made this a day-one right: an employee no longer needs 26 weeks of continuous service before they can ask, and can submit a request from their very first day in a new job.

Who Can Request It, and How Often?

Since 6 April 2024, the right to request flexible working is a day-one right, replacing the previous rule that required 26 weeks of continuous service before a request could be made. An employee can make up to 2 statutory flexible working requests in any 12-month period, an increase from the single request previously allowed under the older rules. A request should be made in writing and set out the change being asked for and when the employee would like it to take effect. The statutory scheme applies to employees; some employers also consider informal requests from other staff, but the day-one legal right described here is an employee right.

How the Employer Must Handle a Request

An employer must deal with a flexible working request in a reasonable manner, which in practice means properly assessing the request rather than dismissing it out of hand, and considering whether an alternative or trial arrangement could work. The employer must give the employee a decision within 2 months of the request being made, unless both sides agree to extend that period. Since 6 April 2024, the employer must also consult the employee before refusing a request, a formal step that did not exist under the pre-2024 rules; in practice this typically means a meeting or discussion about the request before any refusal is confirmed. An employer can accept the request as made, propose a compromise, or refuse it, but a refusal is only lawful if it is based on one or more of the 8 statutory business grounds below.

The 8 Statutory Business Grounds for Refusal

An employer can refuse a flexible working request only if the refusal relies on one or more of these 8 statutory business grounds, which were not changed by the 2023 reforms, since those reforms focused on the process rather than the grounds themselves:

• The burden of additional costs
• An inability to reorganise work among existing staff
• An inability to recruit additional staff
• A detrimental effect on the employer's ability to meet customer demand
• A detrimental impact on quality
• A detrimental impact on performance
• Insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work
• Planned structural changes to the business

If a refusal does not fit one of these 8 grounds, or the employer failed to follow the correct process, for example by not consulting the employee or missing the 2-month decision window, the employee may be able to bring an employment tribunal claim.

What Counts as Flexible Working?

A statutory flexible working request is not limited to home working. It can ask for a change to hours (such as moving to part-time, compressed hours, or job sharing), a change to times (such as different start and finish times, or flexitime), or a change to place of work (such as working from home some or all of the time, or splitting time between sites). Employees often combine more than one of these in a single request, for example asking for both reduced hours and a change to the days worked. The employer's assessment and the 8 statutory grounds apply in the same way regardless of which type of change is requested.

Flexible Working in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has its own flexible working legislation, separate from the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 that applies in Great Britain, though the substance is broadly similar: employees can ask their employer to change their hours, times or place of work. Because Northern Ireland legislates separately, the exact day-one timing of any Northern Ireland change may differ from the 6 April 2024 date that applies in England, Wales and Scotland, so check the current position with the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) rather than assuming the Great Britain date applies. A flexible working dispute in Northern Ireland is heard by the Industrial Tribunal, not the Employment Tribunal used in Great Britain, and the LRA is Northern Ireland's equivalent of ACAS for advice and conciliation.

This article explains the general right to request flexible working in the United Kingdom and is for general information only; it is not legal advice. Whether a particular refusal was lawful depends on the facts, including the ground relied on and whether the employer properly consulted, so if you are challenging a decision, consult a solicitor or contact ACAS (or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland) for free, confidential guidance. For wider context on the 2026/27 employment reforms, see the UK employment law hub, part of our broader guide to United Kingdom law. Related guides include holiday entitlement, maternity, paternity and parental leave, and how to bring a claim at the employment tribunal if a request was mishandled.