Can I ask to work flexibly?

For all employees.

Applies to: England, Scotland, Wales Last checked against official sources: 6 October 2026

Yes. All employees can request flexible working from their first day in a job. You can ask to change your hours, start and finish times, days, or where you work.

Employers must handle requests in a reasonable manner.
They can refuse if they have a good business reason.
If a request isn't handled reasonably, you can go to an employment tribunal.
Rules differ in Northern Ireland.

Different in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland

Rules may be different in:

Northern Ireland: Check nidirect for Northern Ireland

Key facts

Right from day one
Hours, days or location
Refusal needs a business reason

What flexible working is

Flexible working means a way of working that suits your needs. In England, Scotland and Wales, every employee can make a statutory request from their first day in a job.

Types of flexible working

Type	What it means
Job sharing	Two people split one job
Working from home or remote	Working away from your usual workplace
Hybrid	A mix of home and workplace
Part time	Fewer hours, usually fewer days
Compressed hours	Full-time hours over fewer days
Flexitime	You choose start and finish times, within limits
Annualised hours	A set number of hours over the year
Staggered hours	Different start, finish and break times from others

Older workers can also ask for phased retirement, cutting hours bit by bit.

How to make a flexible working request

Your request must include:

the date
a statement that this is a statutory request for flexible working
how you want to work and when you want to start
whether and when you have made a request before, with the date

You can make 2 requests in any 12-month period.

What your employer must do

Deal with your request in a reasonable manner.
Talk to you before refusing it.
Decide within 2 months of your request, unless you both agree to longer.

Reasons an employer can refuse

An employer can only refuse for one of these business reasons:

extra costs that will harm the business
the work cannot be shared out among other staff
they cannot recruit more people to do the work
it will affect quality
it will affect performance
they will not be able to meet customer demand
there is not enough work when you want to work
planned changes to the workforce

If your request is refused

There is no longer a legal right to appeal, but your employer may have its own appeal process.

You cannot go to an employment tribunal just because your request was refused. You can complain to a tribunal if your employer:

did not handle it in a reasonable manner
wrongly treated it as withdrawn
dismissed or treated you badly because you asked
refused it based on incorrect facts

You must complain within 6 months of the decision, or of the date the employer should have replied. If that date was before 1 October 2026, the old limit of 3 months applies. Acas gives free advice on flexible working.

Northern Ireland

Rules are different. nidirect says you must have worked for your employer for 26 weeks, and you can make one request in 12 months. Your employer must give you its decision in writing within 14 days of meeting you, and you can appeal within 14 days.

Related guides

Where this comes from

Get it done

This takes you to the official service, which is free to use.

How to apply

Common questions

How many flexible working requests can I make?

You can make 2 flexible working requests in any 12 month period.

How long does my employer have to respond to a flexible working request?

Your employer must make a decision within 2 months of your request, or longer if you both agree.

What reasons can an employer give to refuse flexible working?

Reasons include extra costs that will damage the business, effects on quality or performance, or not being able to meet customer demand.

Can I appeal if my flexible working request is refused?

There is no legal right to appeal, but your employer may have its own appeals process. You cannot go to a tribunal just because your request was refused.

Official sources

1.Flexible workingwww.gov.uk/flexible-working
2.Applying for flexible workingwww.gov.uk/flexible-working/applying-for-flexible-working
3.Flexible working: after the applicationwww.gov.uk/flexible-working/after-the-application
4.Flexible working: appealswww.gov.uk/flexible-working/appeals

Checked against GOV.UK on 6 October 2026

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