The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 come into effect on 6 April 2024.  They remove the 26-week service requirement for an employee to make a flexible working request, so that such requests can be made from day one of employment. The government announced their intention to do this nearly two years ago, but it has taken a while to come on to the statute book. Other changes made by this legislation are:

• Employees will be able to make two flexible working requests within a 12-month period, up from the current one request;
• Employers will have to respond to the request within two months, down from the current three months; and
• There will no longer be any requirement for an employee to explain what effect their request will have on the employer or how the impact might be dealt with by the employer.

It will be interesting to see if these changes will see a significant increase in flexible working requests by employees. Whatever happens, employers will need to update any flexible working policies they have to bring them in line with the new legislation.