How to handle a flexible working request

Decide which request process applies

Start with what the person is asking to change and which process applies. A Great Britain statutory request changes the employee's contractual hours, working times or place of work. It must be in writing and say that it is statutory. It must give the date, the proposed change and start date, and the date of any previous statutory request. These are the current requirements in the Acas Code.

A note does not stop being a statutory request because it is brief, arrives by email or does not explain why the employee wants the change. Check its substance and required details before labelling it informal. If information is missing, ask for it promptly and take ownership of the next step.

An informal request may suit an urgent, temporary or small change, or a request from somebody who does not have the statutory right. The statutory timetable does not apply, but a similar fair discussion and written outcome can prevent confusion. Acas distinguishes informal changes from statutory requests.

A request connected with disability may instead be, or may also be, a request for a reasonable adjustment. Do not force it into one box. Record which duties you are following and consider the adjustment separately.

Attach the work jurisdiction to the case at the start. A policy headed “UK flexible working” is not enough if it silently applies Great Britain dates to a Northern Ireland employee.

Acknowledge the request and set the deadline

Confirm receipt in writing. State the date received, whether you are treating it as statutory, who will handle it and the deadline that applies. If you need a meeting, propose it early enough to leave time for a considered answer and any appeal.

For Great Britain, the two-month clock begins when the employer receives the request. It covers the original decision and any appeal. An extension is possible only by agreement and should be confirmed in writing. Acas says an employer must consult before refusing unless it accepts the written request in full, and should hold the meeting without unreasonable delay.

Northern Ireland uses prescribed stages. The written statutory application must also explain the expected effect on the employer and how that effect might be handled. If the request is not accepted outright, the meeting must normally take place within 28 days of receipt and the written decision within 14 days of that meeting. The employee has a statutory right to bring a colleague employed by the same employer. nidirect sets out the current application and meeting rules.

Keep a simple case record with the received date, request type, jurisdiction, live deadline, meetings, agreed extensions and owner. A diary reminder is useful, but it is not the record.

Discuss the work, not assumptions about the person

Go into the meeting ready to understand the request, not to defend the current pattern. Ask the employee to describe how the arrangement would operate. Work through the practical points that matter in this role:

• customer or service hours that need cover
• tasks that genuinely require a particular place or time
• handovers, supervision and team meetings
• workload at the proposed hours
• equipment, access and information security
• effects on pay, holiday, benefits or other contractual terms
• a different pattern that might deliver most of the benefit

The person considering the request should have authority to decide it. Keep an accurate written record of the discussion. If a detail is uncertain, say what evidence you will check and when you will come back, rather than turning uncertainty into a refusal.

In Great Britain, there is no general statutory right to a companion at this meeting. The Acas Code says employers should accept a reasonable request for a fellow worker, trade union representative or trade union official. A companion may also be needed as a reasonable adjustment. Northern Ireland has a statutory colleague-companion right.

Test an uncertain arrangement before making it permanent

A trial can answer a real operational question when discussion alone cannot. It should not be used to postpone a decision indefinitely or to make the employee prove that ordinary management problems will never arise.

Write down:

• the exact hours, days and location being tried
• the start and end dates
• what work, cover or service measure will be checked
• any temporary handover or equipment arrangement
• when employer and employee will review it
• what happens at the end

Be explicit about whether the trial is a temporary variation and whether the requested arrangement would become permanent if approved. Do not accidentally describe a permanent contractual change as a trial. Acas recommends discussing modifications, alternatives and a possible trial before rejecting an original proposal. If the trial takes the Great Britain case beyond two months, agree and record an extension first.

Consider the request fairly alongside other duties

Assess the employee impact, the business impact and what could make the arrangement workable. Use current facts from the role and team. “We have never done this” and “everyone will ask” do not establish what this request would do.

Equality duties run alongside the flexible-working process. Pregnancy and maternity, sex, disability and the other protected characteristics must not influence the handling or outcome unlawfully. A rule that appears neutral can still disadvantage a protected group. Caring itself does not give a Great Britain statutory request automatic priority, but the reason and effect may expose an equality issue that needs its own assessment.

If the change may remove a disability-related disadvantage, follow both the flexible-working process and the separate reasonable-adjustment duty. The statutory refusal grounds do not replace that assessment. The Acas guidance on considering requests makes the distinction explicit.

Where several requests arrive, consider them in the order received and use the same process. Do not treat an earlier approval as an automatic precedent or rank requests by how deserving the personal reason sounds. Speak to each employee about alternatives if the team cannot sustain every proposed arrangement. Keep each person's information private.

Refuse only for a permitted business reason

In Great Britain, an employer must agree a statutory request unless there is a genuine business reason not to. A rejection must rely on one or more of these eight grounds:

1. The burden of additional costs.
2. An inability to reorganise work among existing staff.
3. An inability to recruit additional staff.
4. A detrimental impact on quality.
5. A detrimental impact on performance.
6. A detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand.
7. Insufficient work during the periods the employee proposes to work.
8. Planned structural changes to the business.

Northern Ireland uses the same eight grounds under its separate procedure. The Acas Code lists the Great Britain grounds, and nidirect confirms the Northern Ireland list.

Name the ground that actually applies and connect it to the evidence. For example, identify the uncovered service period, why work cannot reasonably be reorganised and which alternatives were discussed. Do not add a ninth ground such as manager preference, office culture, perceived commitment or inconvenience.

Consultation matters here. If the original proposal cannot work, ask whether a modification, different start date, review arrangement or trial could resolve the problem. A statutory label is not a substitute for that conversation.

Confirm the outcome and update the working record

Give the decision in writing without unreasonable delay. If the request is agreed in full or in a modified form, record:

• the agreed hours, times and place of work
• whether the change is permanent, temporary or subject to a defined trial
• the effective date and any review date
• effects on pay, holiday, benefits and responsibilities
• which employment record, rota or working pattern must change

A flexible-working change will usually vary contractual terms. In Great Britain, changed terms must be put in writing within one month of agreement, as the Acas guidance on agreeing changes explains. Keep the decision letter and the updated terms together rather than expecting a calendar entry or rota to carry the agreement.

If refusing, state the permitted business ground, explain how it applies to this request and set out any reasonable supporting information. In Great Britain there is no statutory appeal right, but the Acas Code says offering one is good practice. Explain how and when to appeal, and use somebody not previously involved where possible. Finish the appeal within the original two-month period unless an extension is agreed.

Northern Ireland has a statutory appeal process. The refusal must explain the business ground and the right to appeal. The employee must appeal in writing within 14 days of the refusal notification. The employer should then hold the appeal meeting within 14 days of receiving it and must notify the employee of the outcome in writing within 14 days of that meeting. Use the current nidirect timetable, not the Great Britain two-month workflow.

An employee can withdraw a request. Ask for written confirmation and acknowledge it. In Great Britain, a request may also be treated as withdrawn if the employee misses both the original and rearranged request or appeal meeting without a good reason, but the employer must tell them. Northern Ireland has its own missed-meeting and withdrawal consequences, so check the local process before closing the case.