How do I make a flexible working request?

The statutory process is not the only route — many changes are agreed informally in a conversation — but it is the one with a deadline attached and a written answer at the end, and it is worth using when an informal ask has not worked. The two things that decide the outcome are how well the request anticipates the employer's objection, and whether you asked early enough for the two-month clock to run before you need the change.

Step by step

1. Check you are an employee.The statutory right is for employees, from the first day of employment in England, Wales and Scotland. Workers and the self-employed do not have it, though they can still ask.
2. Count your requests.Two statutory requests in any twelve-month period, and you cannot make a second while the first is still being decided. Use them deliberately rather than firing off a speculative one.
3. Write it properly.State that it is a statutory request for flexible working, the change you are asking for, and the date you would like it to start. You no longer have to explain the effect on the employer or how it might be dealt with — that requirement was removed in 2024.
4. Anticipate the objection anyway.You are not required to address the business impact, but requests that do are agreed far more often. Say how the work will be covered, how you will handle meetings and handovers, and offer a trial period.
5. Ask for a trial.A three-month trial with a review is much easier for a manager to agree than a permanent change, and in practice it is how most contested requests are resolved.
6. Expect to be consulted before any refusal.Since April 2024 the employer must consult you before turning a request down. A refusal that arrives with no discussion is a procedural failure worth pointing out.
7. Hold them to the two-month deadline.The decision, including any appeal, must be made within two months of the request unless you agree to extend it. Diarise the date and ask for an update as it approaches.
8. Know the eight business reasons.Extra costs; an inability to reorganise work among existing staff; an inability to recruit additional staff; a detrimental effect on quality; a detrimental effect on performance; a detrimental impact on ability to meet customer demand; insufficient work during the periods you propose to work; and planned structural changes. A refusal has to rest on one of them.
9. Understand what a change means for your contract.An accepted statutory request is normally a permanent change to your contract, not a temporary arrangement, including any reduction in pay that goes with reduced hours. Say clearly if you want it to be temporary.
10. Consider the discrimination angle separately.Refusing a request from someone with childcare responsibilities, or from a disabled employee where the change would be a reasonable adjustment, can raise a discrimination question in its own right. That is a different and often stronger route than the flexible working rules.

Tips

• Offer a defined trial period with a review date. It is the single most effective thing you can put in a request.
• Ask for the decision in writing with the business reason named. A vague refusal is much harder to challenge than a specific one.
• If the change is connected to a disability, say so — it may be a reasonable adjustment, which is a stronger legal route than the flexible working process.

Common mistakes

• Making the request four weeks before you need the change — The employer has two months to decide including an appeal, so a late request cannot produce an answer in time however reasonable it is.
• Treating an agreed change as temporary — A statutory request granted is normally a permanent contract variation. If you want a trial or a temporary change, say so in the request.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask