UK working from home laws – flexible working has changed (2024)

Who remembers the pre-pandemic working requirement of working in the office Monday to Friday, five days a week? Lockdown taught us and the rest of the world that remote working is completely possible, if not more effective for most.

Post-pandemic, many employers have transitioned to a happy medium: hybrid working, where you split your working week between working from home (WFH) and are in the office. Hybrid working will differ from one person to the next in the UK. Some will be in the office anywhere from two or three days a week with the remainder spent at home. As a result, for many this has given back a currency we were all lacking – time. That’s right, the benefit has been more free time to do what we truly want since we’ve saved on the time commuting into the office. Not to mention saving pounds on soggy shop bought sandwiches for lunch. Who’d have thought this this would be our new norm? Power to the employees!

Even better news is that from 6 April 2024 new laws that come into effect regarding flexible working that protects employees even further. You may have heard about the Employment Rights (Flexible Working) Act 2023. If not, let’s give you the lowdown on what this means for you, your family members, friends and colleagues.

1. Employees can now formally request flexible working from day one 

The rules pre-6 April 2024 were that you had to be employed by a company for 26 weeks to submit a flexible work request.

You are now able to formally ask for flexible working from day one as an employee, including but not limited to working part-time, reduced hours, varied working locations, flexitime, job-sharing and term time.

The good news is that if you have stayed in a job solely because the working arrangements suited your personal circumstances, e.g. working specific hours to allow you to pick up children on the school run, you’ll now have more job opportunities.

2. How employees make requests

The frequency over the number of times employees could submit requests for flexible working used to be one per year pre-6 April 2024. Now, from 6 April 2024 it can be two per year.

Employers must now respond to employee request within two months where as it used to be three months pre6 April 2024.

The increase in frequency of requests and a shortened window in which employers need to respond to such requests reflects the ever changing personal circumstances of employees. Employers should benefit from this in the form of better retention rates of valued employees.

3. Details on requests made

Employees that submit requests for flexible working are no longer required to justify how their requests can be dealt with by their employer and how it would impact the the employer. The onus will now be on managers to assess this, given their role in understanding resource management. This means that managers will need to have a central role in making decisions about requests, since they will usually have the greatest knowledge about job roles and will have to implement any new arrangement. This also gives rise to employers having to train and support managers on the new rules, processes and impact of flexible working.

4. How should an employee submit a flexible work request?

Your employer should have a policy on flexible working policy. So this would be your first port of call. It should set out details such as who you need to submit the request to, method in which to submit the request (e.g. an online form) and the next steps.

Some employers may not have a policy on this. In this case, do put in your request in writing – preferably by email, and ensure HR is copied in given this is a contractual matter.

Do bear in mind that if you’re requesting shortened working hours that this is likely to impact your salary and associated benefits. This will result in a change to your employment contract so it’s something to really give some thought to before submitting a request.

If you’re unsure if your request is suitable for you long term then you may be able to formally agree with your employer to do a trial period of the flexible working arrangements. But whatever you do, get this in writing.

5. Rejecting requests

Employers must consult employees before rejecting their flexible working requests. This is to ensure that employees are able to provide full details such as motives behind such requests. For example, if an employee has a change in childcare needs, the employee will now be able to provide this reason, if they choose to, as part of the mandatory consultation on the employer.

It’s important for the employee to be realistic and practical when issuing a request. For example, if you work in a store, it’s not going to be possible to work from home. If an employer denies your request on the grounds of it not being realistic for the company, it’s important to appear to be flexible by suggesting possible alternative working arrangements.

While employees no longer have to explain the reason for the request, employers will factor in the following when deciding to approve or reject this. The factors can include, but are not limited to: 

How much flexible working would cost the business
Whether some work can be reorganised between other staff
Whether it is a possible to recruit more staff
Whether flexible working will impact the quality of work
Whether flexible working will impact the business’s ability to meet customers’ needs.
Whether there’s enough work for an employee to do at the times they’ve requested to work flexibly.
Whether there’s a planned restructure for the business and whether the flexible working request is in line to planned changes. The new rules mean that employers have to give a sound explanation on rejecting any requests. Some of the reasons are likely to be in respect of the above. Knowing this in advance will allow you to ensure that your request is as robust as possible.

Most employers should also offer an appeals process to follow if your request is denied. However, it’s better to resolve this with your line manager first before raising an internal grievance, followed by a legal redress.

Furthermore, any requests made should not result in an employee being treated differently afterwards. If this happens then this may be grounds for discrimination, especially if the underlying reasons for flexible working falls under one of the protected factors regarding discrimination in the UK, such as religion. This is a highly complex area so legal employment advice would be recommended.

Further information can be found on the national employment-relations adviser Acas’ code of practice.