Flexible Working - When you CAN say no

The biggest shakeup of employment law for a generation, the Employment Rights Act, came into law on April 1st.

In all the headlines around zero hours and sick pay from day one, there’s a change to flexible working coming in, over the next 12 months, that you really need to be aware of.

As you’d expect (and are probably aware of), flexible working has surged in popularity over the last five years.

In 2024 it became a ‘day one right’, which means that employees didn’t have to wait six months to request a change. 

Now it’s going to change again, and yes, you guessed it, it’s in the employee’s favour again.

Yes, you can still say “no”, but under the new law, it can’t just be a polite refusal; you’ll also have to demonstrate that:

·       The refusal was reasonable 

·       That you have one or more statutory business reasons for doing so

Note ‘statutory’ - that includes things like the burden of additional costs or inability to meet customer demands.

Genuine, iron-clad impacts on the business. 

Not that you prefer everyone to work in the office… 

Not because it’s consistent with what other people do… 

Not because it’s more convenient for managers or leaders…

In short, refusing a request isn’t a two-minute job, unless you want to end up in tribunal.

Each case must be treated on its merits and specific situation, and each refusal must be objectively justified. 

Need some help to get prepared? You know where we are.