UK: consultation on draft revised Acas Code on strengthened flexible work request regime

Acas is consulting until 17 December 2026 on its proposed revised Code of Practice on requests for flexible working, updated to reflect the Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms due to be implemented in Autumn 2027. These reforms include the new procedural requirements for handling a request confirmed last month (see our blog post here), as well as the new requirement for an employer's refusal (on one of the existing eight prescribed grounds) to be reasonable. The Code sets out the legal requirements (what employers 'must' do) as well as what Acas considers to be good employment practice (what employers 'should' do), and tribunals are required to take the Code into account where relevant.

Reasonableness test

The main change in the draft Code is the addition of guidance on the new reasonableness test (although more is anticipated in the non-statutory guidance to be published later).  It identifies four principles that employers 'should' apply, but notes that how these principles are applied will depend on the circumstances, including an employer's size, resources and operational needs: 

1. Decisions should be based on evidence.  Employers should be able to explain why the evidence they have relied on supports their refusal.  Evidence could include relevant workforce or service delivery data, comparable situations in the organisation or elsewhere, and the views of managers, staff representatives and team members on feasibility.  Assumptions should be tested, for example using risk assessments.
2. The employer should consider whether reasonable changes could reduce or manage the impact and make the arrangement work. These might be changes to work distribution or patterns, the use of technology, or a different start date or other modification.  Whether costs are one-off or ongoing may also be relevant.
3. The employer, employee and any representatives should work together to find solutions.  This includes asking what the employee is trying to achieve and exploring alternatives, time-limited arrangements or trial periods.
4. The employer should act transparently and consistently.  They should explain the impact of a requested arrangement, how the impact would arise in practice and why that is significant enough to justify refusal.  Employers should also explain the process for handling the request, for example by having a written flexible working policy, designing the policy in consultation with employees and their representatives and allowing reasonable requests to be accompanied at meetings.  

Multiple requests

A key concern for employers is that accepting one request will set a precedent and encourage multiple employees in the same team to request similar arrangements. The draft Code addresses this in a new section, noting that:

• employers may need to consider the cumulative effect of requests across a team while still assessing each request on its own merits; 
• employers could talk to other employees in the team about voluntarily agreeing changes to their own flexible working arrangements which might enable the new request to be accepted; and  
• employers should respect the fact that an employee's reasons for needing flexible working may be private.

Reasonable adjustments for disability

The draft Code has additional detail on requests that may involve reasonable adjustments for disabled employees pursuant to the Equality Act 2010.  It states that employers should always consider whether a request relates to a disability and keep this under review while handling the request. The draft Code then reminds employers that, where the Equality Act duty applies, the requested changes could be a reasonable adjustment and that adjustments may also need to be made to the procedure for considering the request (for example, allowing additional support or alternative means of communication).

Impact

Prior to implementation in Autumn 2027, employers will need to update their flexible working policies to reflect the new procedural requirements.

More importantly, line managers will need to be trained in the new procedure, in the steps needed to show that any refusal is reasonable and in how best to explain the decision to the employee. The new emphasis on collecting evidence and exploring alternative arrangements and trial periods before making a decision may well require a shift in mindset for some managers inclined to respond instinctively based on untested assumptions. 

Managers may need to adopt a more positive 'can-do' attitude to exploring what can be accommodated and, if refusal is justified, be ready to evidence this.  A greater willingness to use trial periods, along with processes for teams to knowledge-share as to what has and hasn't worked, could help ensure evidence is available.

It may also be prudent to remind managers that employees are protected from detriment and dismissal because they have or intend to make a request or allege breach of their right to make a request.  

The final version of the Code is to be laid in Parliament in early summer 2027.  Acas is expected to publish detailed statutory guidance on the reasonableness test later in 2026.