For years, asking to work flexibly meant clearing a hurdle: you had to have been in the job 26 weeks before you could even put in a formal request. That changed on 6 April 2024. Flexible working is now a day-one right, meaning you can ask from your very first day in a new role, which quietly shifts the balance for anyone weighing up an offer.
What the right actually gives you
Flexible working is broader than working from home, and people forget the half of it that matters most. It covers changes to your hours, your start and finish times, compressed hours, part-time arrangements, job shares, and where you do the work. Under the current rules you can make up to two statutory requests in any twelve-month period, and your employer must deal with the request and tell you their decision within two months unless you both agree to extend that. You no longer have to explain how the change will affect the business or how it might be dealt with - the burden of working that out sits with the employer, not you.
How to actually make the request
Treat it as a proposal, not a plea. Put it in writing, state the date, set out clearly what you want, and crucially come with the answer to the question your manager is silently asking - how does the work still get done? Name the day you would be in for the team meeting. Explain how you will cover the hours a client expects. The requests that get approved are the ones that have already solved the manager's problem for them.
- State plainly that it is a statutory request under the flexible working rules, and put a clear date on it.
- Describe the arrangement you want and when you would like it to start.
- Offer a trial period - three months is reasonable - because "let's test it" is far easier to say yes to than "forever".
When an employer can say no
This is not an absolute right to get what you ask for, and it helps to know that going in. An employer can refuse, but only on one or more of eight specified business grounds - things like the burden of extra costs, a detrimental effect on meeting customer demand, an inability to reorganise work among existing staff, or a detrimental impact on quality or performance. They cannot simply say no because they would rather not. If a request is turned down on a reason that does not match those grounds, ACAS publishes a clear code of practice and is the place to start before anything escalates. Ask early, ask well, and ask in writing.