How to respond to flexible working requests

What it is and who can request it 

Flexible working can involve:

• Job sharing
• Working off-site (e.g. teachers carrying out planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) work from home)
• Working part-time
• Flexitime
• Compressed hours (working full-time hours, over fewer days)
• Annualised hours (working hours are spread or vary across the year)
• Staggered hours 
• Phased retirement

This is set out in the DfE's guidance on flexible working in schools (see the section 'Defining flexible working').

Flexible working can benefit your school by helping you to:

• Retain experienced staff
• Recruit from a wider pool of teachers
• Improve staff wellbeing and work-life balance 

Statutory requests for flexible working

All employees have the right to make a statutory request for flexible working from day 1 of their employment.

This includes part-time workers, but not agency workers or self-employed contractors.

An employee can make no more than 2 statutory requests to the same employer in any 12-month period. See section 4 of the Employment Regulations (Flexible Working) Act 2023.

Non-statutory (informal) requests

A non-statutory request can be made by all staff, including those who aren't eligible to make a statutory request.

Staff might use this route to request one-off or temporary flexible working arrangements, or arrangements that don't involve changes to their contract. For example, changing their start and/or finish times, but working the same number of hours a week.

Share our template request form with staff   

Our model flexible working policy includes a form that staff members can use to request flexible working. Our form:

• Covers all the points the staff member must include if they're making a statutory request – it can be adapted for non-statutory requests
• Has been approved by Forbes Solicitors and the school leaders' union, the NAHT

You can find the form in appendix A of our model.

What to do when you receive a request

Respond promptly 

You have 2 months to consider and respond to the request, beginning on the date the application is made – this includes time to complete any appeal.

The 2-month period can be extended, if you and the staff member agree to this (e.g. if you've both agreed to a trial period).

You must deal with requests in a 'reasonable manner' 

You should consider how the requested change could affect you and the employee, including potential benefits or other impacts of accepting or rejecting it.

This is outlined in Acas' code of practice on flexible working requests (paragraph 8).

Hold a consultation meeting

You must consult with the staff member before making a decision on their statutory request, unless you decide to accept a written request in full (paragraph 12 of the code of practice).

But it's a good idea to meet with the staff member anyway, even if you plan to accept their request. This is so you can discuss:

• How the arrangement will work
• Any support the staff member will need
• Holding a trial period

A consultation meeting will also help clarify if a flexible working request relates to a 'reasonable adjustment' for a disability. 

The meeting should be run by someone with the authority to make a decision – typically the headteacher, or the staff member’s line manager, or other member of the senior leadership team/central trust team, depending on your school/trust policy.

You should allow staff to bring a companion to the meeting

It’s not a statutory right for staff to be accompanied during the meeting, but it's good practice to allow them to be accompanied if they wish.

Prior to the meeting, they should inform you that they may request to be accompanied (e.g. by a colleague or trade union representative), so you have enough time to prepare.

You might have a legal obligation to allow a companion for any staff who need reasonable adjustments, such as those with a disability (e.g. allowing someone with knowledge of that disability to accompany the staff member).

Acas has guidance on consulting an employee about their request for flexible working in its code of practice, linked above (paragraphs 12 to 19). It sets out that employers should: 

1. Hold the meeting without "unreasonable delay"

Both you and the staff member should have reasonable time to prepare for the meeting, while taking into account the requirement to consider and respond to a statutory request within 2 months (including any appeal).

Notify the staff member of the time and place in advance.

2. Hold the meeting privately

This can be in person or remotely via a video conference, or a phone call (if neither of these options are possible).

3. Allow for "reasonable discussion and consideration" of the request

Use the meeting to discuss things like:

• The potential impacts of accepting or rejecting the request
• Any practical considerations involved in accepting the request
• Any modifications/alternative arrangements to the request if you can't accept it in full – e.g. where a staff member has requested PPA time from home 3 days a week, offering PPA time once a week instead
• If a trial period is appropriate, to see whether the request is feasible on a permanent basis

4. Keep a written record of the meeting

Your minutes should provide an accurate reflection of the discussion and its outcomes.

Withdrawing a request  

An employee can tell you in writing if they want to withdraw a request for flexible working.

You can also treat an application as withdrawn if the employee misses 2 meetings to discuss an application or appeal without a good reason (e.g. sickness).

You must inform the employee, in writing, if you're treating their request as withdrawn. 

Hold a trial period

If you decide to accept a request, try out the flexible working arrangement temporarily before making changes to the employee's contract.

A trial period will:

• Allow you to see how the new arrangement works in practice
• Give you time to make any adjustments, if necessary
• Reassure parents/carers and other staff members who might be worried about the impact of flexible working arrangements on the quality of education or their workload 

There's no required length for trial periods, but we recommend 3 months to test how suitable the arrangement is.  

If you agree to a trial period with the employee, make sure they understand that it's an extension to your 2-month window to make a final decision, and record this agreement in writing. You can also extend the trial period itself – e.g. to see the impact of any adjustments that you make over the period. 

Once the trial period is over and you formally accept the new flexible working arrangement, you need to change the terms and conditions of the employee's contract. Write to them with a statement of the agreed changes and a start date, and keep a copy for your own records.

Read our guidance on how to make changes to an employment contract

Know when you can refuse a request 

You should always seek specialist HR advice if you're considering a refusal, to get advice on the specifics of the request and your situation.

You can refuse a request if you have a good 'business' reason. These reasons are set out in legislation:

In a school context, you may be able to reasonably reject a request if it would have a negative impact on pupil outcomes. 

If in doubt, consider:

• How will the arrangement affect the curriculum and the opportunities presented to pupils?
• Can the weekly timetable be adapted to accommodate the request?
• What's the current line management structure and how will the arrangement affect this?
• What impact would the arrangement have on any newly qualified teachers in the school?

You must consult with the staff member before rejecting a request, and set out your decision in writing.

Offer staff an appeals process 

Employees don't have a statutory right to appeal against a decision. 

However, it's good practice to allow staff to do so. Acas recommends that an employee is offered the chance to appeal, as this helps demonstrate that you're handling their request in a 'reasonable manner'.

You can include the appeals process in your flexible working policy. 

When staff can go to an employment tribunal

An employee can't complain to an employment tribunal just because their request was rejected, but they can complain if you:

• Failed to handle the request in a reasonable manner
• Incorrectly treated their application as withdrawn
• Dismissed or mistreated them as a result of them having made a flexible working request
• Refused an application based on incorrect facts
• Haven't made a final decision within the deadline, including where there has been an extended deadline

To avoid this, clearly set out your reasons for rejecting a flexible working request, and make sure you aren't discriminating against the employee based on their protected characteristics. Take a look at our summary of the Equality Act 2010 for more support.

An employee should complain to a tribunal within 3 months, less 1 day of:

• Hearing your decision
• Hearing their request was treated as withdrawn, or
• The date you should have responded to their request, if you failed to reply by then

Take a whole-school approach to flexible working

You don't have to wait for staff to make a request to support flexible working opportunities in your school. Instead, take proactive steps to help the process work for you and your staff. For example:

• Communicate the best times in the year to submit a request to align with your timetabling process
• Review arrangements for when staff can work from home
• Look at how PPA time is scheduled
• Include flexible working in recruitment

This advice comes from the DfE's guidance on flexible working in schools.

Consider allowing teachers to do their PPA off-site as standard practice

This works best when staff have longer periods of PPA scheduled at the start or end of the day.

Doing this will help staff manage their work at a time that suits them best, and demonstrate that you trust staff to work independently. 

Take a look at our working off-site model policy for help on the practicalities of staff working from home.

Think about how these arrangements might affect:

• Timetabling
• Health and safety – e.g. child:staff ratios in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and responsibilities during an emergency
• Data protection practices

Consider flexible working when recruiting

Invite job applicants to discuss flexible working arrangements as part of the recruitment process. This will save you time and allow staff to start working with appropriate arrangements in place, rather than having to consider requests once they're already in the role.

It may also help you attract a wider range of candidates, and help you find the best person for the job.

You can include flexible working in recruitment by:

• Stating in job adverts that you welcome part-time and job-sharing applicants, where appropriate
• Inviting candidates to discuss flexible working arrangements before the interview

Consider employment and discrimination law

You’re not required to accept requests for flexible working during recruitment.

However, you shouldn’t reject an applicant on the grounds that you don’t want to meet their flexible working request, or think they might make a request in the future.

Legislation states that you can’t treat part-time workers less favourably than a full-time ‘comparator’. You may also be accused of indirect discrimination by disadvantaging a specific group of people, e.g. indirect sex discrimination.

See Acas' guidance on part-time workers' rights for more information.

To keep yourself and your school covered:

• Stick to the same ‘business reasons’ for rejecting a flexible working request, as you would a current staff member
• Make sure your recruitment process is transparent and fair, e.g. using an evidence-based points grid for shortlisting and interviews
• Seek specific legal advice, if in doubt

Include flexible working in staff inductions

Once you’ve finished the recruitment process, make sure new starters are aware of how to request flexible working.

For example, ask them to read your policy during induction.