Advice from an HR consultant in Stratford on Avon on handling flexible working requests, especially the wave that arrives every summer.
I've had more conversations about flexible working in the last twelve months than in the previous five years combined.
Most of them start the same way. A business owner has had a request land on their desk and they're not sure whether they can turn it down.
The rules changed in April 2024. And they're changing again in October 2026.
If you're making decisions based on what you think the law says, rather than what it actually says, you could be putting yourself at risk.
Here's what you need to know.
What's been landing on your desk
As summer approaches, the requests tend to pile up. Someone wants to work from home on a particular day while their children are off school. Another person asks to shift their hours earlier so they can do the afternoon pick-up. Someone else wants to drop a day entirely for six weeks.
Your instinct might be to wave them through to keep people happy. Or you might feel irritated and want to shut them down quickly. Both responses can cause problems if you haven't thought them through properly.
Flexible working is now a day one right
Since April 2024, any employee can submit a flexible working request from the moment they start with you. There's no qualifying period any more.
Each employee can make up to two requests in a twelve-month period. You're required to give a written response within two months.
And you can only say no if the request falls foul of one of eight specific grounds set out in law.
The eight reasons you're allowed to refuse
The law gives you a defined list. If a request would genuinely cause one of these problems, you have grounds to decline it:
● It would create an unreasonable cost burden
● It would harm your ability to meet customer demand
● You couldn't redistribute the work among your existing team
● You couldn't recruit someone to cover the gap
● It would have a negative effect on quality
● It would reduce performance
● There wouldn't be enough work during the proposed hours
● You have planned structural changes that conflict with the request
Some of these are more commonly relied on than others. For a smaller business, the inability to reorganise work is often the most relevant. If you've got a lean team and one person changing their pattern means a gap that nobody else can fill, that's a legitimate concern. Similarly, if a request would directly affect your ability to deliver for clients or customers, that's worth documenting clearly.
The key point is that you need a genuine, specific reason. Feeling annoyed or thinking it sets a bad precedent isn't enough.
What's coming in October 2026
The Employment Rights Act is introducing something called a reasonableness test. At the moment, you just need to cite one of those eight grounds. From October 2026, you'll also need to demonstrate that your refusal was reasonable in the circumstances.
That's a meaningful shift. It means a tribunal could look at your decision and decide that, yes, the ground applied, but no, it wasn't reasonable to refuse given the specifics of the situation.
For example, if someone asks to work from home one day a week during the holidays, and you refuse on the basis of customer demand, you'd need to show why that particular day and that particular role genuinely couldn't accommodate it. A vague reference to "needing everyone in the office" won't cut it.
Treating each request on its own merits
One of the biggest mistakes I see is business owners trying to apply a blanket rule. "We don't do flexible working in the summer" or "everyone has to be in five days a week" might feel simpler, but it doesn't hold up.
Every request needs to be assessed individually. The role matters. The timing matters. What you've agreed to for other people in similar positions matters too.
If you approved a request from one team member last year and then refuse a near-identical one from someone else, you need a clear explanation for why the two situations are different. Without that, you're exposed.
Before you say no, have the conversation
If your first reaction to a request is to refuse, pause. Ask yourself whether there's a middle ground.
Could you agree to a trial period of a few weeks to see how it works in practice? Could the hours be tweaked slightly so the impact on the team is smaller?
Having that discussion, even if you ultimately say no, shows good faith. It also reduces your risk if the decision is ever challenged. A tribunal will look more favourably on a business owner who explored alternatives than one who simply rejected the request outright.
Through our HR consultancy services in Stratford on Avon, I've helped a number of business owners work through exactly these kinds of conversations, finding solutions that work for both sides.
Documenting your decision
Whatever you decide, write it down. If you're approving the request, record the terms clearly so both sides know what's been agreed.
If you're refusing, your written record should include:
● Which of the eight statutory grounds applies
● Why it applies in this specific case, with reference to the actual impact on your business
That documentation is your safety net. If the employee raises a complaint or takes things further, your written reasoning is what you'll rely on.
Getting ahead of the summer rush
The best time to sort this out is before the requests start arriving. Having a clear flexible working policy in place gives you a framework to follow. It also sets expectations with your team about how requests will be handled.
A good policy covers the process for submitting requests, the timeframe for decisions, and how you'll communicate the outcome. It doesn't need to be complicated, but it does need to be consistent.
With the October 2026 changes on the horizon, now is a sensible time to review what you've got and make sure it's fit for purpose.
Questions worth asking yourself
● Do you have a written flexible working policy that your team knows about?
● Have you been consistent in how you've responded to past requests, or could someone spot a pattern of unfairness?
● If you refused a request tomorrow, could you point to a specific statutory ground and explain why it applies?
● Are your managers confident enough to handle these conversations, or do they tend to defer everything to you?
● Have you considered what the reasonableness test will mean for decisions you're making now?
Get some support before the requests land
If you're not sure where you stand, or if you want to get your policy and process right before summer, I'm happy to help.
As an outsourced HR consultant in Warwickshire, I work with small businesses to make sure they're handling things like flexible working properly and fairly.
We can look at your current setup, talk through any requests you're unsure about, and make sure you're ready for the changes ahead.
Get in touch to book a discovery call. It's a straightforward conversation about what you need and how I can help.
