What Can We Learn From The New Acas Code On Flexible Working Requests?

Last month saw the publication of the government’s response to the consultation on improving access to flexible working. Acas has now published an updated draft Code of Practice on handling flexible working requests. The draft gives the first indication of what employers will need to do to show that refusing a request is reasonable under the Employment Rights Act 2025. We look at what’s new.

Under the new flexible working framework introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025, an employer may only refuse a flexible working request if it is reasonable to do so. Following consultation, the government has now confirmed the new mandatory process employers must follow before refusing a request, which we discuss in more detail here. As expected, Acas has now published a draft Code of Practice for consultation setting out the new statutory process in practice and providing a first look at what the new reasonableness test will look like.