Flexible working in 2027: why saying no will need to be reasonable
The right to request flexible working is not becoming an absolute right. But turning a request down is about to get harder. From 2027, if the timetable holds, a refusal will need to be reasonable, follow a set process, and be explained in writing. Here is what changes.
What stays the same
It helps to start with what is not changing. Employees already have a day-one right to request flexible working, and that stays. Employers can still say no, and they can still do so on the same eight business reasons that are in the law today, things like the burden of extra costs, an inability to reorganise work among staff, or a detrimental effect on quality or performance.
So this is not a right to work flexibly on demand. The request-based system remains. What changes is how carefully you have to handle a request you do not want to grant.
What is changing
The Employment Rights Act 2025 tightens the refusal in three ways. A rejection must now be reasonable, not simply pinned to one of the eight grounds as a box-tick. You will need to follow a set consultation process before refusing, with the detail to be filled in by secondary legislation. And if you do refuse, you must explain in writing why that decision is reasonable.
Put together, these move flexible working from a request an employer can wave away to a request an employer has to engage with properly. The government has been clear the aim is to make yes more likely, without removing the right to a fair no.
Why it matters for your business
The quick, one-line refusal is what goes away. A manager who replies to a request with little more than a reason code will not meet the new bar, and a refusal that cannot be shown to be reasonable is the kind of decision that turns into a grievance or a tribunal claim.
For an SME, the practical weight is on the managers who field these requests. They will need to understand the eight grounds, hold a genuine conversation, and put the reasoning down in writing. That is a real shift from how many businesses handle requests today.
The quick, one-line refusal is what goes away. The same decision is fine, but the thinking behind it has to be visible.
A worked example
An employee asks to compress their hours into four days. Today, a busy manager might reply that it does not work for the rota and leave it there. From 2027, that is not enough. The business would need to show it genuinely considered the request, followed the process, and can explain why refusing is reasonable on a specific ground, for example a real and evidenced effect on meeting customer demand.
The same decision, reached the same way, is fine. What changes is that the thinking behind it has to be visible and defensible, not assumed.
What a sensible employer does now
Get ahead of it by making flexible working requests a proper, recorded process rather than an ad-hoc reply. Brief your managers on the eight business reasons and on the difference between citing a ground and showing a refusal is reasonable. Keep a simple written record of each request, the conversation, and the decision.
None of this stops you running your business the way you need to. It just means the answer, yes or no, is one you can stand behind and show.
Where Jamie HR fits
This is the kind of process Jamie HR is built to hold. It keeps requests, decisions, notes and your flexible working policy in one place, so when a request comes in the process is followed the same way each time and the reasoning is on the record.
The change is still to be finalised in regulations, so treat 2027 as the expected point rather than a fixed date. The habit worth building now, handling requests properly and writing down why, is useful whichever way the timetable lands.