The statutory right to request flexible working applies to employees only. Freelancers, consultants, contractors and the genuinely self-employed are not covered (see below).

The current law gives employees the right to:

• Request flexible working from their first day of employment (previously there was a 26-week qualifying period);
• Make up to two statutory requests in any 12-month period (increased from just one);
• Submit a request without having to explain how it might affect the business; and
• Expect a decision within two months of the request, unless a longer period is agreed.

Employers must also consult with the employee before refusing a request, although (for now) there’s no prescribed process for how that consultation should be carried out. That may change (see below).

An employer may only refuse a request by relying on one or more of eight specified statutory grounds:

• Burden of additional costs
• Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand
• Inability to reorganise work among existing staff
• Inability to recruit additional staff
• Detrimental impact on quality
• Detrimental impact on performance
• Insufficient work during the periods the employee proposes to work
• Planned structural changes

If a request is refused outside these grounds, or without the required consultation, an employment tribunal can order the employer to reconsider the request and award compensation of up to eight weeks’ pay.

Among its (many) reforms, the Act will introduce two further changes to flexible working once it's brought into force:

• A reasonableness test: employers will need to show their refusal was reasonable, not just that one of the eight grounds was technically engaged.
• A prescribed, ‘light-touch’ consultation process: secondary legislation will likely set out specific steps employers must follow before refusing a request; including a meeting, advance notice of its purpose, a written record, and a written decision with reasons.

Neither change is in force yet. The government’s consultation on how the new process should work closed on 30 April 2026, with a formal response expected through summer 2026. Current implementation guidance points to 2027 for commencement. Until then, the current rules above continue to apply in full.

Freelancers, consultants, contractors and the self-employed have no statutory right to request flexible working. Given how much of the screen industry’s workforce sits in this category, this is a significant practical point. Any flexibility for these groups depends entirely on the contract and what’s negotiated, not on statute. Businesses may still choose to offer flexible arrangements to freelance collaborators to stay competitive and attract talent, but there’s no statutory entitlement underpinning it.

Employment law is devolved in Northern Ireland, and the position currently differs from Great Britain in a key respect: employees there still need 26 weeks’ continuous employment before they can exercise the statutory right to request flexible working. Employers must still follow the statutory procedure for handling requests, including timelines for meetings and decisions.

Change is coming via the ‘Good Jobs’ Employment Rights Bill, which has been introduced to the NI Assembly and is progressing through the legislative process. Its flexible working proposals largely mirror the GB reforms (a day-one right, two requests per year, no requirement to explain business impact, and a duty on employers to show they acted reasonably in refusing a request). One planned difference is a shorter response window than in GB; a meeting within 28 days of the request, and a decision within 14 days of that meeting.

As of mid-2026, the Bill’s passage is contested between parties at Stormont, and it isn’t yet certain it will complete its journey through the Assembly before the current mandate ends in 2027. Screen businesses operating in Northern Ireland should track its progress rather than assume it will land on the timetable currently proposed.lines for meetings and decisions.