Every employee has a statutory day-one right to request flexible working, but not an automatic right to the exact arrangement requested. The employer must handle a statutory request reasonably, consult unless accepting it in full and decide it within the statutory period.
Start with the factual problem, then identify the right, evidence, remedy and route. Similar workplace situations can use different legal tests.
Key points
- Employees can make up to two statutory flexible-working requests in a 12-month period.
- Only one statutory request can be live at a time.
- The employer must normally consult before refusing and must decide the request, including any appeal, within two months unless an extension is agreed.
- A refusal needs a genuine statutory business reason, but discrimination or reasonable-adjustment duties can impose separate obligations.
Diagnosis
First: what exactly happened?
Work out which route fits the facts before deciding what to ask the employer to do. Similar workplace problems can use different legal tests.
| What happened? | What to check |
|---|---|
| You want to change hours, times or place of work | Decide whether to make a statutory request or an informal request; put a statutory request in writing. |
| The employer refused without discussing it | Unless accepting in full, the employer should consult before deciding a statutory request. |
| The reason given is vague or formulaic | Ask how the stated statutory business reason applies to your actual role and proposal. |
| The request relates to disability, childcare or another protected characteristic | Consider Equality Act duties separately; a flexible-working refusal can still be discriminatory even if a statutory business reason is cited. |
Who is responsible?
The employer remains responsible for complying with employment law and making fair decisions even where managers, HR, payroll, occupational health or external advisers administer part of the process.
Identify your employing entity and the actual decision-maker. If an agency, umbrella company or host business is involved, responsibility can differ by right and should be checked rather than assumed.
Making a statutory request
The request should be in writing, say it is statutory, identify the change, proposed start date and previous statutory requests. A clear business case and trial proposal can help, even though the employee no longer has to explain the effect on the business as a statutory requirement.
Consultation and alternatives
If the employer cannot accept the request in full, consultation should explore the concerns and possible alternatives rather than merely announce a refusal.
Business reasons
The statutory grounds include matters such as additional cost, inability to reorganise work or recruit staff, impact on quality/performance or customer demand. The employer should genuinely apply the ground to the facts.
Discrimination and adjustments
A request linked to disability may also be a reasonable-adjustment issue. Requests linked to sex or caring arrangements can also raise indirect-discrimination questions. The statutory flexible-working process does not replace those rights.
After a request is agreed
An accepted permanent flexible-working request will usually vary contractual terms. Confirm exactly what is changing and the start date. If the arrangement is intended to be temporary or a trial, record that explicitly so there is no later dispute about whether the change became permanent.
If the employer later wants to reverse an agreed permanent arrangement, that is normally a contract-change issue rather than simply another flexible-working decision.
Flexible working and discrimination are separate tests
A woman seeking changed hours for childcare may have an indirect sex-discrimination argument if a requirement creates group disadvantage and cannot be justified. A disabled employee may require a change as a reasonable adjustment. Those Equality Act routes are not limited to the statutory flexible-working grounds.
This means an employer should not assume that using one of the permitted flexible-working refusal reasons automatically disposes of every discrimination question. Identify which legal route you are using and what remedy you want under each.
The two-month decision period includes any appeal
The statutory maximum normally covers the whole decision process, including an appeal, unless employer and employee agree an extension. Keep the date the valid request was received and any agreed extension in writing.
If the employer allows the deadline to pass without agreement, ask for an immediate decision and preserve the chronology. A delay can matter in a statutory flexible-working claim even where the employer might ultimately have had a valid business reason to refuse.
A statutory request is a right to a fair decision, not an automatic yes
The law gives employees a structured right to request changes to hours, times or place of work. It does not guarantee the requested pattern. That makes the quality of the employer decision important: consultation, genuine consideration, accurate facts and a recognised business reason should connect to the actual proposal.
A refusal copied from a generic template can be challenged by asking what evidence shows the problem would arise in this role and whether a modified pattern, different days, a trial period or partial acceptance was considered.
What can you realistically ask for?
Match the requested outcome to the right involved. Some problems can be corrected internally; others have statutory pay, compensation or tribunal remedies.
- Agreement to requested or alternative working pattern
- Trial period
- Reconsideration/appeal
- Reasonable adjustment where Equality Act duty applies
- Tribunal remedies for statutory flexible-working breaches or discrimination where applicable
Evidence worth keeping
Preserve the original record where possible. A short, dated evidence set is usually more useful than an unstructured dump of documents.
Common employer responses - and what they do not necessarily prove
| Employer says | ConsumerWise view |
|---|---|
| “Flexible working is only for parents or carers.” | Wrong. Every employee has the statutory day-one right to request. |
| “We can refuse without speaking to you.” | Unless the request is accepted in full, the statutory process requires consultation before decision. |
| “A statutory business reason makes the refusal automatically lawful.” | The reason must be genuinely applied, and separate discrimination/adjustment duties can still matter. |
| “You only get one request a year.” | The current statutory limit is two requests in a 12-month period. |
What to say next
Write in issue-remedy form: identify the event, state the rule or evidence that matters, ask the employer to explain its position, and request a concrete outcome. Avoid burying the key point inside a long narrative.
Important overlaps and edge cases
- Reasonable adjustments
- Indirect sex discrimination/caring responsibilities
- Contract changes after agreement
- Family leave and return-to-work arrangements
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Write down the event or decision, the date, who made it and the practical impact.
- Identify the legal or contractual right that may apply instead of relying only on the word “unfair”.
- Collect the smallest evidence set that proves the key facts and the employer’s stated reason.
- Use the relevant internal request, grievance, appeal or complaint route and ask for a specific remedy.
- Check Acas and tribunal limitation separately. Do not let a slow internal process cause an external deadline to expire.
Escalation and time limits
Internal procedures can be important, but they do not normally stop an employment tribunal time limit. As at 11 September 2026, most claims whose limitation period starts before 1 October 2026 still use the existing three-month-minus-one-day framework. For most relevant time limits starting on or after 1 October 2026, the period increases to six months minus one day.
Acas early conciliation can affect calculation of the deadline if Acas is notified in time. Some claims use different limits, and interim relief in qualifying dismissal cases can require action within only 7 days. Always check the specific claim rather than applying a general period mechanically.
Official sources
Check the current official source material
- Acas: Statutory flexible working requests - official guidance
- Acas Code on flexible working - official guidance
Employment law changes frequently. Check the live official source and the date of the workplace event before relying on a time limit, qualifying period or statutory rate.