Flexible Working – Consultation Response

Sep 17, 2026 | News | 0 comments

The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade published its response to the Make Work Pay consultation on improving access to flexible working earlier this week.

Two reforms will follow.

First, Regulations will set out a process employers must follow before rejecting a statutory flexible working request from Autumn 2027.

Second, the reasonableness test introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 will be commenced, also in Autumn 2027, so a request may only be refused where it is reasonable to do so.

The main conclusions are that:

 

  1. Employers must hold a meeting before rejecting a request, to consider the feasibility of the arrangement sought and address challenges where possible and, if it is not feasible, to explore suitable alternatives. The meeting must be conducted with a view to reaching an agreement (i.e. it can’t simply be a meeting to explain the employer’s decision to refuse).

 

  1. The meeting must take place within the two-month decision period, the employer must give fair and reasonable notice, and the employee must be told the purpose of the meeting in advance.

 

  1. Employers must notify the employee in writing of both the outcome of the meeting and the decision on the request. A single communication can cover both.

 

  1. Three consultation proposals have been dropped: that a person with authority to decide attends the meeting, that the employer asks whether the request should be treated as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010, and a fixed notice period such as one week.

 

  1. There will be no statutory right of appeal and no right to be accompanied. Both remain matters of good practice, but not a strict legal obligation.

 

  1. Trial periods, review points and time-limited arrangements will be promoted through guidance rather than required.

 

ACAS will now consult on a revised Code of Practice on requests for flexible working, to be laid before Parliament in early summer 2027 and to take effect alongside the Regulations. ACAS has also promised guidance on the reasonableness test before the end of 2026.