Flexible Working Requests
Flexible working covers changes to hours, times or location of work. Many jurisdictions provide a statutory right to request it, with a defined process the employer must follow.
The statutory framework
Where a statutory right exists, it is typically a right to request and have the request properly considered, not a right to have it granted.
Eligibility criteria vary, and several jurisdictions have removed or reduced qualifying service requirements in recent years.
Employers must usually respond within a defined period and can refuse only on specified business grounds — cost, effect on quality or performance, inability to reorganise work or recruit, effect on meeting customer demand, and insufficient work during the proposed periods.
There is usually a limit on the number of requests per year and a requirement to consult before refusing.
Framing the request
Address the business grounds directly. A request that anticipates the objections and answers them is considerably more likely to succeed.
Set out specifically what you are proposing: which days, which hours, from where, and from what date.
Explain how the work will be covered, how availability will be maintained, and how colleagues and customers will be affected.
Propose a trial period. This is the single most effective element, because it reduces the decision from a permanent commitment to a reversible experiment.
Anticipating the objections
Coverage: who handles queries during hours you are not working, and how handover operates.
Communication: how you remain contactable and how meetings are scheduled.
Fairness: whether granting your request creates a precedent the employer cannot sustain. Acknowledging this and distinguishing your circumstances helps.
Performance measurement: proposing how output will be assessed reassures a manager worried about visibility.
If it is refused
Ask for the reason in writing, tied to the specified business grounds.
There is usually an appeal route, and appeals sometimes succeed where the original decision was made without proper consideration.
A modified proposal — fewer days, a shorter trial, a phased change — frequently succeeds where the original did not.
Where the refusal relates to a protected characteristic, particularly disability or caring responsibilities engaging sex discrimination, different legal considerations apply and advice is worth taking.
Practical points
Discuss informally before submitting formally, since many arrangements are agreed without invoking the process at all.
Understand that a granted request usually becomes a permanent contractual change unless agreed as temporary, so be clear which you are seeking.
This article is general information and not legal advice. Rights vary considerably by jurisdiction.
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