Flexible working as a day one right: how to handle requests

Flexible working requests have been a statutory right since 2003. What the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes is the threshold to make a request and the process for refusing one. From commencement under ERA 2025, every employee can request flexible working from their very first day of employment. The previous 26-week service requirement is gone.

The change matters practically. Under the old rules, an employer did not need to engage with flexible working requests from new joiners for the first six months. Now, a candidate who has just signed their contract can submit a request before their first month is out. HR teams and line managers need to know this and be ready to respond.

The mechanics of a request remain similar to before. A request must be made in writing, specify the change sought, explain what effect the employer thinks the change may have, and suggest how any such effect might be dealt with. The employee can make two requests in any 12-month period, up from one under the previous rules.

The employer must respond within two months. Critically, ERA 2025 now requires the employer to hold a consultation meeting with the employee before refusing a request. Under the old law, consultation was good practice but not mandatory. Under ERA 2025, skipping the consultation and issuing a direct refusal is a procedural breach.

There are eight statutory grounds on which a request can be refused: the burden of additional costs, detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand, inability to reorganise work among existing staff, inability to recruit additional staff, detrimental impact on quality, detrimental impact on performance, insufficiency of work during the proposed working hours, and planned structural changes. These grounds are the same as before. What changes is the requirement to consult before applying them.

Rejecting a flexible working request can create legal risk if the refusal is connected to a protected characteristic. Requests from pregnant employees, employees returning from maternity leave, employees with caring responsibilities, or employees with disabilities are particularly sensitive. A refusal that cannot be justified by a genuine business reason — not merely stated but demonstrated — may support a discrimination claim as well as an ERA claim. The two routes to tribunal are separate, and compensation under discrimination legislation is uncapped.

Best practice for handling requests: acknowledge the request in writing, schedule a meeting within two weeks, approach the meeting with genuine curiosity about how the arrangement could work, document the discussion, and if refusing, explain specifically which of the eight grounds applies and why it applies to this particular request.

What you cannot do: refuse without meeting, refuse on a ground that does not genuinely apply, apply a blanket policy of rejecting all requests, or take a longer than two months to respond.

See our guide on ERA 2025 and what it means for your business for the full picture, and flexible working requests: the statutory process for a step-by-step handling guide including template letters.

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