Reform of the right to request flexible working

Implementation date: Not expected before 2026

The Employment Rights Bill includes provisions intended to "make flexible working the default". Under the Bill, the grounds for refusing a statutory flexible working request will remain the same, but an employer will be able to refuse a request only if it is reasonable to do so. The employer will have to state why it considers its refusal to be reasonable.

It is not yet known when these measures will come into force. In its Next Steps to Make Work Pay policy paper, the Government said it expects to begin consulting in 2025 on the various measures covered in the Bill and that it anticipates that "the majority of reforms will take effect no earlier than 2026".