As of April 2024, multiple changes have been made to the Employments Rights (Flexible Working) Act 2023, as well as a separate piece of secondary legislation to improve the rights of anyone making a flexible working request, and make it easier for any employee to request flexible working arrangements in England, Scotland and Wales.
What is flexible working?
Flexible working is a way of working to suit an employee’s needs. This can include, but is not limited to starting early and finishing late, working from home, hybrid working, or working different days.
What are the changes?
Employees are now entitled to make two, rather than one request per year for flexible working in England, Scotland and Wales (in Northern Ireland, employees are still only entitled to make one request per year). In addition, the deadline for employer’s to respond to a flexible working request has been reduced to two months (this was previously three).
If an employer denies a flexible working request, they must now explain why they have denied the request, however the list of valid reasons for employers to deny a request remains the same, such as cost to the business, impact on quality of service, job performance or the ability to meet customer, client or consumer demand.
Employees will no longer have to give a reason for requesting flexible working, such as caring responsibilities, mental health or work-life balance. In addition, if you are making a flexible working request, you can now submit a request from day one of your employment (previously, you had a 26-week qualifying period before being able to make a request).
Find out more about your flexible working rights at work
For more information on your flexible working rights, how to make a flexible working request, and the support available to you when making a request, download our flexible working guide today.
If you are a member of Community and need advice or support, please contact our Service Centre at help@community-tu.org or on 0800 389 6332.
© Community Trade Union 2025
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If you have any further queries, please contact our Service Centre Department on 0800 389 6332 or at servicecentre@community-tu.org.
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