A straight-talking guide for UK employees – and the employers who keep getting this wrong.
Let’s start with the bit nobody says out loud.
Most people don’t avoid asking for flexible working because they don’t know how.
They avoid it because they’re scared of the answer.
Scared of being seen as less committed. Less ambitious. Less serious. Scared that the moment they mention school pick-up or a four-day week, something quietly shifts in how they’re viewed.
So they don’t ask. Or they ask apologetically, wrapped in so many caveats that it sounds like they’re asking for a favour rather than exercising a legal right.
Here’s what I want you to take from this guide: asking for flexible working is not a confession. It’s a request. And since April 2024, it’s a request you can make on your very first day on the job.
Let’s get into it.
What counts as “flexible working” (it’s broader than you think)
Flexible working isn’t just “working from home.” It’s any arrangement that changes when, where or how much you work. That includes:
- Part-time — fewer hours across the week
- Remote or hybrid — some or all of your work done away from the office
- Compressed hours — full-time hours squeezed into fewer days (think four longer days instead of five)
- Flexitime — starting and finishing around fixed core hours
- Term-time only — working during school terms, off during holidays
- Job-share — splitting one role between two people
- Staggered hours — starting and finishing at different times to colleagues
The point is this: flexible working is a spectrum, not a single thing. You don’t have to pick the most dramatic option. Sometimes shifting your start time by an hour is the difference between a frantic morning and a calm one.
Work out what you actually need before you ask. Vague requests are easy to refuse. Specific ones are harder to wave away.
Your legal right to ask (and what changed in 2024)
This is the part most people don’t realise.
Since 6 April 2024, every employee in Great Britain has the legal right to request flexible working from day one of their employment. The old rule—where you had to wait 26 weeks before you could even ask—is gone.
A few other things changed at the same time, and they’re worth knowing because they shift the power balance in your favour:
- You can make two statutory requests in any 12-month period (it used to be one).
- Your employer has two months to give you a final decision, including any appeal (down from three).
- You no longer have to explain how your request affects the business. That used to be on you. Now it isn’t.
- Your employer cannot refuse your request without consulting you first. No more silent rejections.
And there’s more coming. Under the Employment Rights Act 2025, employers will have to justify refusals more rigorously — changes expected to land around 2027. The direction of travel is clear: the burden is shifting from the employee to the employer.
So when you ask, you’re not begging. You’re standing on solid ground.
How to actually write the request
A statutory flexible working request needs to be in writing and dated. Beyond that, keep it clear and specific. Here’s what to include:
- State that it’s a statutory flexible working request. This matters — it triggers your legal protections and the two-month clock.
- Say what you’re asking for. The exact change to your hours, days, or location.
- Say when you’d like it to start.
- Mention any previous requests and when you made them (if you’ve made one in the last 12 months).
You don’t have to explain how it’ll work for the business anymore. But — and this is me talking now, not the law — a short note on how you’ll make it work rarely hurts. Not because you owe it, but because it makes it easier to say yes.
Something like: “I’d be reachable on email between X and Y, and happy to flex on days where there’s a key meeting.”You’re not justifying yourself. You’re removing the easy excuses.
What good looks like: a quick template
Subject: Statutory flexible working request
Dear (Manager Name),
I’d like to make a statutory request for flexible working under the Employment Rights (Flexible Working) Act 2023.
I’m requesting [the specific change — e.g. moving to a four-day week, Monday to Thursday], to take effect from [date].
I have not made a previous statutory request in the last 12 months. [Or: I made a previous request on [date].]
I’m confident this arrangement will allow me to continue delivering [your role/key responsibilities] to the same standard, and I’m happy to discuss how we make it work in practice.
I look forward to discussing this with you.
Best wishes, (Name)
Adapt it. Make it sound like you. But keep the bones: statutory, specific, dated.
What happens if they say no
Here’s where it gets real, because plenty of requests still get refused — and not always fairly.
Your employer can only refuse for one of eight specific business reasons, including things like the burden of extra costs, an inability to reorganise work among existing staff, or a detrimental impact on quality or performance. They can’t simply say “we don’t do that here.” And they can’t reject your request without consulting you first.
If you’re refused, ask for the reason in writing. Then look at it honestly. Is it a genuine business constraint, or is it the kind of vague “it wouldn’t be fair on everyone else” that doesn’t actually meet the legal bar?
Because here’s the thing worth sitting with: a lot of refusals aren’t about logistics at all. They’re about an outdated belief — that part-time means less committed. That out of sight means out of the running. That flexibility and ambition can’t live in the same person.
They can. They do. Every single day.
If you believe your request was handled unreasonably or refused on shaky grounds, you can raise it through your employer’s appeal process, get advice from Acas, and in some cases take it to an employment tribunal. The Equality Act 2010 also offers strong protection for parents and carers — particularly mothers — whose flexibility needs are tied up with caring responsibilities.
You have more standing than you think.
For the employers reading this
And I know some of you are.
If you’re treating flexible working requests as a problem to be managed, you’ve already lost the plot.
The talent you’re trying to attract — and the talent you already have — is making decisions based on this. Flexibility isn’t a perk anymore. It’s a baseline expectation. When plenty of employers offer it, why would anyone settle for less?
So when a request lands on your desk, don’t ask “how do I get out of this?” Ask “what would it take to make this work?”
Because the companies that figure that out aren’t losing productivity. They’re winning the people everyone else is fighting over.
It’s not the request that’s the problem.
It’s the system that still treats it like one.
The bottom line
You have the right to ask. From day one. Up to twice a year. Without explaining yourself.
Ask clearly. Ask specifically. Ask without the apology.
And if the answer’s no? Make sure it’s a real no — a genuine business reason — and not just the sound of outdated thinking dressed up as policy.
Work should fit around your life. Not the other way round.
At Investing in Women, we help women find flexible, part-time and remote roles with the UK’s most forward-thinking employers — and we help employers hire in a way that actually works. If you’re looking for a role that fits your life, browse our flexible jobs board. If you’re an employer who wants to attract brilliant people others are overlooking, let’s talk.