Flexible working requests: a practical guide for employers in 2026

What can an employee request?

A statutory flexible working request can seek a change to the employee’s working hours, start or finish times, working days or place of work. Examples include part-time hours, compressed hours, home or hybrid working, annualised hours, job sharing, staggered shifts or working longer days over a shorter week.

The request must be made in writing and explain that it is a statutory flexible working request, the date of the application, the change requested, when the employee wants it to begin and whether they have made an earlier request and, if so, when.

Employees no longer have to explain how the proposed arrangement might affect the business or how that effect could be managed. Managers must therefore investigate the practical implications themselves.

What must an employer do?

Employers must handle statutory requests reasonably. If the request can be accepted in full, the employer can confirm the arrangement without holding a formal consultation meeting.

If it cannot be accepted immediately, the employer must consult the employee before deciding to reject it. The consultation should be a genuine discussion—not a meeting held after the decision has already been made.

ACAS also recommends keeping an accurate written record of consultation and appeal meetings.

• Record the date the request was received.
• Check whether it qualifies as a statutory request.
• Review the role, workload and operational requirements.
• Consult the employee if the request cannot be accepted in full.
• Explore modifications, alternative arrangements or a trial period.
• Make and communicate a reasoned decision.
• Offer an appeal as good practice.
• Complete the process within two months unless an extension is agreed.

The eight lawful reasons for refusal

An employer can reject a statutory flexible working request only for one or more of the business reasons specified in legislation.

Naming one of these reasons is not enough by itself. The decision should explain how the reason applies to the actual job and workplace. Relevant evidence might include customer opening hours, required staffing levels, shift coverage, appointment data, workload patterns or a genuine inability to redistribute particular duties.

For example, a Darlington engineering business might be unable to approve home working for duties requiring physical access to machinery. It should still consider whether the employee’s underlying need could be met through different start times, compressed hours or limited home working for administrative duties. A lawful reason should be connected to evidence, not assumption.

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

Use consultation to find workable alternatives

A consultation meeting is an opportunity to understand what the employee is trying to achieve. If the exact request cannot be accommodated, discuss whether another arrangement could provide some of the same benefit.

Consider a manager in a Stockton-on-Tees service business who requests permanent home working three days a week. Full approval may create difficulty covering face-to-face customer enquiries, but two home-working days—or different days from those originally requested—might be workable.

A documented trial can test concerns about coverage, performance or customer service against actual evidence. It should have a clear start and end date, review points and measures for deciding whether the arrangement is sustainable.

• A different non-working day.
• Revised start and finish times.
• Limited rather than full-time home working.
• A temporary arrangement.
• A job share.
• A review after a defined period.
• A trial period with agreed success measures.

Flexible working and reasonable adjustments are different duties

A flexible working request may reveal that the employee is experiencing a disability or long-term health condition. The duty to consider a statutory flexible working request and the duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 are legally separate.

An employee might ask for home working, later starts or reduced travel because of a health condition. Refusing the flexible working request under the statutory procedure does not automatically resolve the reasonable-adjustment question.

Flexible-working decisions can also create discrimination risks associated with sex, disability, religion, age, pregnancy or other protected characteristics. The ACAS Code expressly reminds employers that information disclosed through a request must be handled without unlawful discrimination.

• Discuss the condition and the disadvantage experienced.
• Obtain appropriate occupational-health or medical advice.
• Consider reasonable adjustments.
• Explore alternative ways of removing or reducing the disadvantage.
• Avoid relying on assumptions about capability.

What happens when a request is accepted?

An agreed arrangement will usually change the employee’s contractual terms unless it is expressly agreed as temporary or subject to a trial.

GOV.UK advises employers to update the contract as soon as possible and no later than 28 days after approval. Avoid leaving important conditions to an informal conversation. A clear record reduces later disagreement about whether the employee can return automatically to their former working pattern.

• The agreed working arrangement.
• When it starts.
• Whether it is permanent, temporary or a trial.
• Any review date.
• How availability and communication will be managed.
• Any effect on pay, holidays or other contractual terms.

Should employers offer an appeal?

There is no separate statutory right to appeal a flexible-working decision, but the ACAS Code identifies an appeal as good practice.

An appeal allows the employee to challenge incorrect information, introduce new evidence or question whether the process was reasonable. Where possible, it should be considered by someone who was not responsible for the original decision. Any appeal must still be concluded within the overall two-month decision period unless an extension is agreed.

Common mistakes to avoid

Consistency matters, but identical outcomes are not always required. Two employees may perform different duties, work within different staffing arrangements or make materially different requests. Employers should record the relevant distinction rather than simply saying that one employee was allowed flexibility and another was not.

• Treating flexible working as a benefit available only after long service.
• Rejecting a request without consulting the employee.
• Assuming a role cannot be performed flexibly without testing that assumption.
• Applying different standards to comparable employees.
• Citing a statutory reason without supporting evidence.
• Overlooking a possible disability or reasonable adjustment.
• Failing to explore alternative arrangements.
• Missing the two-month deadline.
• Approving a change without updating the contract.
• Allowing informal arrangements to continue without review.

Further reform is coming in 2027

The Employment Rights Act 2025 will strengthen the flexible-working framework further. Once the relevant provisions take effect, an employer refusing a request will need to explain why it considers refusal on the statutory ground to be reasonable.

The government’s implementation timetable places flexible-working reform in 2027, although the precise commencement arrangements remain subject to further parliamentary processes. The practical direction is clear: employers should expect greater scrutiny of the reasoning behind a refusal, not merely whether a permitted heading was selected.

Businesses should therefore review their policies, manager training, decision letters and record-keeping before the new rules commence.

A practical management checklist

A well-handled request may retain an experienced employee, reduce absence and improve recruitment without creating unmanageable disruption. A poorly handled one can damage trust and expose the business to avoidable disputes.

• What is the employee trying to achieve?
• What would be the measurable operational impact?
• What evidence supports any concerns?
• Have comparable requests been treated consistently?
• Could a modified arrangement work?
• Would a trial period answer the outstanding questions?
• Could the request involve disability or another protected characteristic?
• Can the reason and decision be explained clearly in writing?
• Has the employee been offered an appeal?
• Will the entire process finish within two months?

Flexible-working HR support across the North East

HR + SAFETY helps SMEs across Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, County Durham and the wider North East manage flexible-working requests fairly and commercially.

We can review the request, guide the consultation, identify discrimination and reasonable-adjustment risks, prepare the outcome letter and update the employee’s contractual terms.

If a flexible-working request has landed on your desk and you are unsure whether it can reasonably be accepted, speak to HR + SAFETY before communicating a decision.