Flexible working - What do employers need to know?

Flexible working has been making headlines recently, not least because several large companies have started a shift away from remote working and instead have adopted a hybrid system with a return to the office forecast for some. 

The Employment Rights Bill, which is currently at the committee stage and scheduled tentatively to come into force in 2026, has some key changes to employment law that employers should be aware of. Business owners should ensure that their contracts and documentation are in line with these proposed changes in order to ensure legal compliance or run the risk of being taken to an employment tribunal. 

For more information on the Employment Rights Bill and how it will affect your business, contact the employment law advisory team at Croner on 0808 501 6651.

How does flexible working operate under law currently? 

Under current employment law, flexible working is already a day one right, coming into play in April 2024 under the Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023. Employees can make flexible working requests from their first day of employment instead of having to wait the previously mandated service time of 26 weeks.

Employers have the right to refuse flexible working arrangements based on eight legitimate business reasons, which are as follows:

• Burden of additional costs.
• Detrimental effect on the business’ ability to meet customer demand.
• Detrimental impact on quality.
• Detrimental impact on performance.
• Unable to reorganise work among existing staff.
• Unable to recruit more staff.
• Insufficient work during the periods the employee wishes to work.
• Planned structural changes.

Currently employers must respond within two months of receiving a flexible working request, unless this has been agreed upon otherwise. It should be noted that there is a statutory ACAS Code of Practice that employers should take into account when dealing with an employee’s right to request to work flexibly. 

What are the typical types of types of flexible working?

Currently flexible working arrangements typically fall into the following categories. With employees arranging working patterns that suit their requirements, whilst also taking into consideration their employers business needs.

Remote/home/hybrid working

This is an arrangement where the employee either works from home, a remote location not in the office, or works from a combination of both the office and another location, usually their home as in the case of hybrid working.

Flexitime

Flexitime working arrangements allow employees to set their own start and finish time, within a set daily period. For example, an employee might choose to work between the hours of 8am and 4pm as it better suits childcare arrangements, whilst another employee might choose a 10am start with a 6pm finish as it better suits their commute.

Compressed hours

This is essentially taking an employee’s full-time hours and condensing (compressing) them into a shorter period of time. For example, an employee working 40 hours might compress these hours over 4 days as opposed to 5.

Staggered hours 

Similar to flexitime, staggered hours allow an employee to pick a start time and finish time, tailored to their requirements. For example, this could mean an employee working a typical 8-hour day, starting at 8am with an hour and a half break for lunch and finishing at 6:30pm. 

Annualised hours

This system of flexible working calculates the required hours the employee is scheduled to work over the year or a (12-month period) and accounts for flexibility through assigning less and more hours during each working week, as needed. 

Part-time

Part time work is typically defined as working less hours than a standard 9-5, five-day, Monday to Friday working week.

Phased retirement

Phased retirement is designed for older workers approaching retirement age, allowing them to reduce their hours gradually before they officially retire. 

Job share

This is where a singular role is shared between two employees, both typically work part-time. There are essentially two different types of job-sharing models, “twins” and “islands”. 

The twins model operates by having employees share the same workload or shared responsibility for the same tasks, at different times with little overlap in schedule. The islands model is commonly also referred to as a job split and works by having each employee be responsible for different tasks, working majority independently of each other.

Flexible working laws to be aware of in 2025

There are two key changes to the existing legislation that employers should be made aware of, they are as follows:

• Employers can only refuse a flexible working request if it is reasonable for the employer to do so. 

• Upon refusing the flexible working request, the employer must state the reason for the refusal and outline why it is reasonable to refuse the request based on those grounds. 

There are also draft regulations being created for how employers must consult with the employee before refusing a request for flexible working. 

What are the potential penalties for employers under employment law?

There will be a maximum penalty for employers found in breach of the statutory flexible working regime of 8 weeks’ pay, this currently sits at £5,600.

Get advice on the changes to flexible working outline in the Employment Rights Bill

Contact Croner’s expert employment law advisory team today and ensure that your contracts, documentation and workplace policies are up to date and compliant with the proposed changes to employment law.

Call Croner today on 0808 501 6651.