New Flexible Working Rights

The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 and Flexible Working Amendment Regulations were passed last year with the new provisions coming into effect from 6 April 2024. This legislation amends the existing flexible working rules to provide: 

1. That employees have the right to make a flexible working request from the first day of their employment (rather than waiting 26 weeks as currently). Please note this if not a right to work flexibly, but a right make the request,  
2. That employers MUST consult with an employee if they want to reject a flexible working request
3. That employees can make two requests in a 12 month period instead of just one 
4. Time limits for responding to the request have been reduced from three months to two months 
5. Employees are no longer required to specify how the employer might deal with the impact of their flexible working request. 

There is a new code of practice: Code of Practice on requests for flexible working | Acas