Can My Employer Refuse My Flexible Working Request?
Perhaps you want to work from home two days a week.
Maybe you need to change your start and finish times.
You want to compress your hours, reduce your days or work differently because your life outside work has changed.
And before you even make the request, somebody says:
“They’ll never agree to that.”
Or perhaps you’ve already asked and been told:
“We need everyone in the office.”
So, can your employer simply say no?
Yes, an employer can currently refuse a statutory flexible working request — but it cannot simply reject it because it doesn’t like the idea.
Employees have the legal right to request flexible working from their first day of employment. Employers must deal with statutory requests reasonably and can refuse them only for specified business reasons.
And the rules are going to become stronger again in 2027.
That doesn’t mean every request will have to be accepted.
It does mean the conversation around flexible working is changing.
Flexible working isn’t just working from home
This is one of the first misconceptions worth clearing up.
Flexible working can involve where, when or how much you work.
It could mean changing your hours, start and finish times, working days or workplace.
That might include compressed hours, part-time working, different start and finish times, job sharing, hybrid working or working from home.
And importantly, flexible working isn’t a right reserved for parents.
You do not have to justify wanting flexibility by having children.
People seek different working arrangements for all sorts of reasons: caring responsibilities, travel, health, study, lifestyle or simply because a different pattern works better for them.
Do I actually have a right to flexible working?
There is an important distinction here.
If you have employee status, you have a statutory right to request flexible working from your first day in the job.
That is not currently the same as an automatic right to have the arrangement you request.
An employer must consider a statutory request reasonably and should look at both the effect on the organisation and the employee.
But it can refuse a request where there is a genuine business reason.
Current legislation sets out eight potential business grounds, including additional costs, inability to reorganise work, inability to recruit additional staff, detrimental effects on quality, performance or customer demand, insufficient work during the proposed periods and planned structural changes.
So the fact that an employer can refuse a request isn’t unusual.
The more interesting question is how it reached that decision.
“We don’t allow home working” isn’t necessarily the end of the conversation
This is where I would encourage employees to look beyond the first answer they receive.
Sometimes managers respond to flexible working requests instinctively.
“We’ve always worked this way.”
“If I let you do it, everyone will want it.”
“I need the team where I can see them.”
“Your role isn’t suitable.”
But a statutory flexible working request is not simply an informal favour being asked of a manager.
The employer should consider the actual request and handle it reasonably.
ACAS says this should include carefully assessing the impact of the proposed change on both employer and employee.
That doesn’t mean an employee can insist that their preferred arrangement must work.
But neither should a genuine statutory request simply disappear beneath a blanket statement about company culture.
What happens if the employer cannot agree to exactly what I asked for?
This is an area where the quality of the conversation matters enormously.
Perhaps working remotely three days a week genuinely creates a difficulty.
But would two days work?
Perhaps finishing at 3pm every day isn’t operationally possible.
Would a different arrangement achieve what you need?
ACAS currently says employers should consult employees and discuss alternative options unless the request is accepted in full.
That conversation can be more useful than treating flexible working as a simple yes-or-no decision.
In my experience, some of the best employee-relations outcomes happen when both sides move away from defending their starting positions and instead look at what problem actually needs solving.
What is changing in 2027?
This is where flexible working becomes particularly interesting.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a new reasonableness requirement.
The Government has confirmed that the changes will come into force in 2027.
When the new rules take effect, an employer rejecting a statutory flexible working request will still need to rely on one or more of the existing eight statutory business reasons.
But it will also need to explain why it believes refusing the request is reasonable.
There will also be requirements around consultation before refusal, with the detailed process being developed through regulations. ACAS has recommended that those discussions should genuinely aim to find agreement rather than becoming a procedural exercise.
That is potentially a meaningful shift.
It moves the discussion further away from:
“We’ve identified one of the eight reasons, therefore the answer is no.”
towards:
“Why is saying no reasonable in these particular circumstances?”
What happens behind the scenes when you make a request?
This is the part employees don’t always see.
A manager may initially have a strong view about whether the arrangement will work.
But once a formal request is made, HR may become involved.
The organisation may start considering precedent, team coverage, customer requirements, cost, performance, operational impact and how similar requests have previously been handled.
It may also consider whether something else sits behind the request.
For example, if the proposed change relates to a disability, the employer may need to think separately about its obligations concerning reasonable adjustments. A flexible working request and a reasonable-adjustment request are not necessarily the same thing.
There may also be discrimination implications depending upon the circumstances.
That is why the wording and context of a request can matter more than employees sometimes realise.
What if other people have been allowed to work flexibly?
This is a common source of frustration.
“My colleague works from home three days a week, so why can’t I?”
It’s a perfectly understandable question.
But it doesn’t automatically mean your employer has to give you the same arrangement.
Roles may be different.
Business requirements may have changed.
Team structures may differ.
There may be information about another employee’s circumstances that you quite properly don’t know.
However, consistency still matters.
If similar roles are being treated very differently, or the explanation you’re receiving doesn’t appear to match what is happening elsewhere in the organisation, it may be worth understanding why.
The key is not simply to say:
“They got it, so I should too.”
It is to understand whether there is a genuine, objective reason for the difference.
What if my request relates to childcare?
Being a parent does not automatically entitle somebody to their preferred working arrangement.
But an employer should still be careful about how it approaches the request.
Depending on the circumstances, a refusal could potentially raise discrimination issues, particularly where a workplace requirement places people with a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage.
That is a different legal question from whether the flexible working procedure itself has been followed.
And it’s one reason I wouldn’t look at a refused request in isolation.
Sometimes the more important issue is why the employee needed the change, what alternatives were explored and what effect the employer’s requirement actually has.
Should I appeal if my request is refused?
There is no longer a statutory requirement for an employer to provide an appeal, although the ACAS Code says allowing an appeal is good practice.
Whether challenging a decision is sensible depends upon what has happened.
Was the request properly understood?
Was the business reason explained?
Were alternatives genuinely discussed?
Has something material been overlooked?
Is there another issue involved, such as disability or potential discrimination?
Those questions are more useful than automatically escalating every refusal.
Don’t treat flexible working as a battle before the conversation has started
Employees sometimes arrive at these discussions expecting confrontation.
Employers sometimes arrive expecting inconvenience.
Neither is particularly helpful.
A well-considered flexible working arrangement can work for both sides.
But that doesn’t mean employees should simply accept a vague refusal either.
There is a considerable difference between:
“No, because that’s not how we work.”
and an employer explaining a genuine operational problem, discussing alternatives and demonstrating why the proposed arrangement cannot reasonably work.
As the law develops in 2027, that distinction is going to become even more important.
So if you’re considering making a request — particularly where the change is important to your ability to remain in the role — understand what you are asking for, why it matters and what the employer is likely to be considering on the other side of the table.
Sometimes getting the conversation right at the beginning prevents a much more difficult conversation later.
Frequently asked questions
Can I ask for flexible working as soon as I start a new job?
Yes. Employees have a statutory right to request flexible working from the first day of employment.
Does my employer have to let me work from home?
No. The right is currently a right to request flexible working, not an automatic right to a particular arrangement. Employers can refuse statutory requests for genuine specified business reasons.
What if I need flexible working because of a disability?
Your employer may also need to consider whether the change could be a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010. That is a separate consideration from the statutory flexible working regime.
Are the rules changing again?
Yes. In 2027 employers refusing statutory requests will face an additional reasonableness requirement and new consultation requirements. Detailed implementation is still being developed.
Someone in your corner
If flexible working is important to you — or your request has already been refused and the explanation doesn’t make sense — it can help to understand the situation from both sides before deciding what to do next.
TrustForce can help you look at the wider circumstances, understand what your employer may be considering and identify the issues that really matter.
TrustForce — Someone in your corner.