Employers need to be aware of a likely change in the law around the future of flexible working following the government’s response to its Making flexible working the default consultation.

Currently, employees with 26 weeks’ continuous service have a statutory right to request flexible working, to which employers have three months to respond. The proposed change will give employees the right to request flexible working from day one, and employers will have a reduced response time of two months.

Whilst employers will not be obliged to grant these requests, they will be required to consult with their employees and explore alternative arrangements before rejecting any request out of hand. Flexible working includes remote work but encompasses a variety of arrangements – including compressed, annualised or staggered hours, job-sharing, and flexitime – so employers need to be familiar with the options so they can engage meaningfully with employees when requests are made.

This forms part of a wider set of measures as set out in the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Bill. The Bill is currently awaiting a second reading in the House of Lords so may not become law until later this year. However, the right to request flexible working from day one will be enacted through secondary legislation so is likely to come into force more quickly.