Since the COVID-19 pandemic, flexible working has become the norm for many organisations. Often this relates to hybrid working with some days worked from home and others in the workplace. Changes may also include altering core hours to accommodate commitments such as childcare or caring responsibilities.

Businesses have reported that flexible working has many benefits for both employers and employees such as:

• Greater employee retention
• Solving recruitment issues by having access to a wider geographic pool of potential employees and those who would struggle to fit a more fixed time pattern
• Reduced absenteeism caused by childcare issues or health problems
• Increased productivity when employees can work hours to suit their circumstances and work more efficiently
• Better work-life balance
• Improved mental and physical health with reduced risk of burnout

Despite these benefits, employers face challenges such as:

• Keeping track of different employee work patterns
• Difficulty in scheduling meetings
• Information not being shared across teams
• Risk of burnout where employees struggle to disconnect from work
• Perceived unfairness for employees who cannot take advantage of flexible working arrangements

Current employee rights to flexible working

Since 6 April 2024 the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 has given employees in the UK the right to request flexible working from their first day of employment. Flexible working arrangements may include part-time hours, flexitime, compressed hours, staggered hours, term-time only work, job sharing, and remote or hybrid working.

Employees may make up to two requests per 12-month period, and employers must respond within two months. Employees are not required to perform an impact assessment regarding their request and employers must consult with employees before rejecting any request. There is no set format for the consultation process in legislation and employers are not required to explain their decision.

Where a case goes to employment tribunal, the only requirement is to assess procedural fairness, not the reasonableness of the employer’s decision.

Flexible working requests can be rejected under current law for any of the following reasons:

• The burden of additional costs
• Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
• Inability to reorganise work among existing staff
• Inability to recruit additional staff
• Detrimental impact on quality
• Detrimental impact on performance
• Insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work
• Planned structural changes

Proposed Changes in the Employment Rights Bill

The Employment Rights Bill, expected to be implemented in stages from 2026 to 2027, proposes several enhancements to flexible working rights. The proposed changes to flexible working requests are subject to parliamentary approval and secondary legislation details, but could include:

• A requirement for employers to follow a mandatory consultation process defined through secondary legislation
• Employers may only refuse a request where they have reasonable grounds to do so, which are explained to the employee in writing
• Expanding tribunal powers to assess the reasonableness of refusals rather than only assessing whether correct process was followed

These changes aim to strengthen employee protection and ensure fairer handling of flexible working requests.

Employers should ensure they are familiar with the current rules regarding flexible working, and keep abreast of changes introduced by the Employment Rights Bill. Some may wish to adopt some of the proposed changes voluntarily.

This article reflects the position at the date of publication shown above. If you are reading this at a later date you are advised to check that that position has not changed in the time since.  

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