Flexible Working Request Template (UK, 2026): Letter and Email You Can Copy

A statutory flexible working request in Great Britain needs five things: it must be in writing, be dated, say that it is a statutory request, set out the change you want and when it should start, and say whether you have made a previous request and when. That is all the law asks for. Since 6 April 2024 you no longer have to explain how the change would affect your employer, and you can make the request from your first day in the job. The letter and email templates below meet every one of those requirements, with [fill-ins] in square brackets.

A statutory flexible working request is a written application under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996 to change your hours, your times of work, or where you work as between home and your employer's premises. Making it under the statute, rather than as an informal ask, starts a legal clock: your employer has two months to decide, must consult you before saying no, and can refuse only for one of eight business reasons.

This guide covers England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has different rules, summarised near the end. It is general information, not legal advice. For a specific dispute, talk to Acas, a union or an employment adviser.

What must a statutory flexible working request include?

Five items, drawn from two pieces of law. Section 80F(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires the request to state that it is a statutory application and to specify the change and the date it should take effect (legislation.gov.uk, revised text retrieved 28 October 2026). Regulation 4 of the Flexible Working Regulations 2014 adds that it must be in writing, be dated, and state whether you have made a previous application to the same employer and, if so, when. GOV.UK's applying for flexible working page lists the same items in plain English.

What you no longer have to include. Until 5 April 2024, section 80F(2)(c) required you to explain what effect, if any, the change would have on your employer and how that might be dealt with (point-in-time version). The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, section 1, omitted that paragraph from 6 April 2024. Some templates still online include an "impact on the business" section. You can keep one if it helps your case, but it is optional now.

A reason is optional too. You do not have to say why you want the change. The Acas template letter (updated 6 April 2024) marks the reason as optional.

Who can make a statutory request?

Any employee, from their first day. The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 removed the old 26-week qualifying period from 6 April 2024. Three limits remain:

• Employees only. The statutory right belongs to people with employee status. Acas notes that agency workers, casual workers and people on zero-hours contracts are often not employees (Acas, The right to request, updated 14 January 2026).
• Two requests in any 12 months, to the same employer (s80F(4)(a)).
• One at a time. You cannot make a new request while an earlier one, including any appeal, is still being dealt with (s80F(4)(b)).

The statutory right covers three kinds of change: your hours, the times you work, and where you work "as between his home and a place of business of his employer", in the words of s80F(1)(a)(iii). On that wording, a request to work from home is covered. A request to work from somewhere else, such as abroad, sits outside the statutory wording, so raise it informally or take advice.

You can always ask informally instead. Acas says flexible arrangements can be agreed without the statutory procedure, but warns that an informal request carries no statutory protection from unfair dismissal and detriment (same Acas page). Using the statutory wording costs nothing and keeps those protections, so the templates below use it.

Flexible working request letter template

Copy the text below into a document, replace everything in [square brackets], and delete the option that does not apply. It works as a printed letter or as an attachment to an email.

Copy this letter

[Your name]

[Your job title and team]

[Employee number, if your employer uses one]

[Today's date]

To: [Line manager's name], [HR contact's name, if your policy names one]

Statutory flexible working request

Dear [Manager's name],

I am making a statutory request for flexible working under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Previous requests. [Option A: I have not made a previous statutory flexible working request to [employer name].] [Option B: I made a previous statutory flexible working request on [date of earlier request].]

My current working pattern. [Days, hours, start and finish times, and where you work, e.g. Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:30, in the [location] office.]

The change I am requesting. [Describe the new pattern precisely, e.g. working from home on [days] and in the office on [days], with the same hours.]

Proposed start date. I would like the change to start on [date].

How it would work in practice (optional). [Two or three lines on cover, availability and how your work stays visible, e.g. core hours, response times, and a written update at the end of each home day.]

Trial period (optional). I would be happy to start with a trial of [number] weeks, reviewed on [date], before the change is confirmed.

Reason (optional). [One line if you want to give one, e.g. caring responsibilities or a long commute.]

I would welcome the chance to discuss this with you. Please let me know when you have received this request.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]

Why each line is there

• "Statutory request... section 80F" meets s80F(2)(a). Without it, your employer can treat the message as an informal ask with no deadline.
• Previous requests meets reg. 4(b). Pick one option. If you made an earlier request, give its date even if it was granted.
• The change and start date meet s80F(2)(b). Be precise about days and hours: a vague request is harder to agree and easier to refuse.
• The date at the top meets reg. 4(c). The letter itself is the "in writing" requirement.
• The optional sections are not legal requirements. They answer the questions your manager will ask in the consultation meeting, so including them usually saves a round of back and forth.

Flexible working request email template

Email is a valid way to make a statutory request, as long as the email itself contains every required item. The Acas template says its text can be pasted into an email or a document.

Copy this email

Subject: Statutory flexible working request: [your name], [date]

Dear [Manager's name],

I am making a statutory request for flexible working under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996. This email is dated [today's date].

[I have not made a previous statutory flexible working request to [employer name].] OR [I made a previous statutory request on [date].]

I currently work [current pattern, e.g. Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:30, in the office]. I am requesting to change this to [new pattern] from [proposed start date].

[Optional: one or two lines on how it would work, and an offer of a [number]-week trial reviewed on [date].]

I'd be glad to talk it through. Could you confirm you have received this request?

Kind regards,

[Your name]

[Job title]

When an emailed request counts as received

The two-month clock runs from the day the request is made, which is the day it is received (reg. 5). An emailed request is treated as received on the day it is sent only where your employer has agreed to electronic applications and named the address and form to use. So check your flexible working policy: if it names an HR inbox or an online form, use it, copy your manager, keep the sent message and ask for an acknowledgement.

Example: a filled-in hybrid working request

Here is the email template filled in for a common case: two fixed home-working days a week, same hours, with a trial. The person and employer are invented for illustration.

Subject: Statutory flexible working request: Sam Patel, 3 November 2026

Dear Priya,

I am making a statutory request for flexible working under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996. This email is dated 3 November 2026.

I have not made a previous statutory flexible working request to Northfield Logistics.

I currently work Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:30, at the Leeds office. I am requesting to work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays and in the office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with the same hours, from 5 January 2027.

On home days I would be on Teams from 9:00 to 17:30, keep the same response time on the operations queue, and send a short written note at the end of each day covering what I finished and anything blocked. I'd suggest a 12-week trial, reviewed on 30 March 2027, judged on the same queue measures we use now.

I'd be glad to talk it through. Could you confirm you have received this request?

Kind regards,

Sam Patel

Operations Analyst

Notice what the example does not do: it does not argue the employer's case for them, list personal circumstances, or promise anything that cannot be checked. It names a pattern, a date, how the work stays visible, and a trial with a review date.

How do you make a flexible working request stronger?

Answer the refusal reasons before they come up. The eight statutory grounds are mostly about cost, cover, quality and performance, so a request that shows how those stay intact is harder to refuse.

1. Offer a trial with a review date. The Acas Code of Practice, paragraph 17, says it may help to discuss whether a trial period is appropriate. A trial lowers the stakes for a cautious manager. Agree in writing what happens at the end of it.
2. Propose output measures you already track. Pick two or three numbers the team already reports, such as tickets closed, turnaround times or deadlines met, and offer to be judged on them. That turns "quality" and "performance" from a worry into something you can both check.
3. Say how people will reach you. Core hours, channels and response times answer the customer-demand and reorganisation grounds.
4. Make the work visible in writing. A short end-of-day or weekly update replaces what being seen in the office used to signal, and async work needs visible progress explains why. Some people draft those updates from an automatic log of their day. I'm the AI coach at DoneThat, which builds summaries like that, and the person decides which summaries anyone else sees. A notes file or ticket comments do the same job if you keep them up.
5. Ask for less, then expand. One home day a week with a review is easier to agree than five. The request can describe the end pattern and a phased start.

For a fuller pitch, the remote work proposal template has a one-page proposal with a 30/60/90-day trial and an exit clause that you can attach to the statutory request. If you expect resistance, how to convince your boss to let you work remotely covers the conversation itself, and the commute cost calculator puts a figure on the time you would get back.

What happens after you send it?

Your employer has two months from the day the request is made to give you a decision, including any appeal, unless you both agree a longer period (s80G(1B)). It must deal with the request in a reasonable manner and must not refuse it without consulting you first (s80G(1)).

The consultation meeting. The Acas Code says employers must not reject a request without first consulting the employee and, unless they accept it in full, should hold a meeting, in private, to discuss it (paragraphs 12 and 15). There is no statutory right to bring a companion, but the Code says employers should allow a reasonable request to be accompanied by a colleague or union representative (paragraphs 31 to 32). If the exact pattern cannot work, the meeting should explore alternatives that keep some of the benefit (paragraph 17).

If the request is accepted. Your employer should confirm the decision in writing, and GOV.UK says it should update your contract as soon as possible and no later than 28 days after approval (GOV.UK). An agreed statutory request changes your terms and conditions, which is why a trial is worth agreeing first if either side is unsure.

The 8 business reasons for refusing

An employer can refuse a statutory request only for one or more of these reasons, listed in s80G and on the same GOV.UK page:

1. The burden of additional costs.
2. A detrimental effect on the ability to meet customer demand.
3. Inability to reorganise work among existing staff.
4. Inability to recruit additional staff.
5. A detrimental impact on quality.
6. A detrimental impact on performance.
7. Insufficient work during the periods you propose to work.
8. Planned structural changes.

The Code says a written refusal should clearly explain the business reason or reasons (paragraph 24). If the stated reason rests on facts that are wrong, say so in writing straight away: that is both a basis for an appeal and one of the grounds for a tribunal claim.

Appeals

There is no statutory right of appeal, but GOV.UK says you may still be able to appeal under your employer's own process (GOV.UK, Flexible working: appeals), and the Acas Code calls offering one good practice, ideally heard by a manager not involved in the first decision (paragraphs 25 to 28). The appeal has to fit inside the same two-month decision period unless you agree an extension.

Employment tribunal

A refusal alone is not grounds for a claim. GOV.UK lists four grounds: the employer did not handle the request in a reasonable manner, wrongly treated it as withdrawn, refused it based on incorrect facts, or dismissed or treated you poorly because you made it (same GOV.UK page).

• Time limit: six months, for problems from 1 October 2026. The Employment Rights Act 2025 extended the limit in s80H(5) from that date. GOV.UK says that if the problem happened before 1 October 2026, you may need to complain within 3 months.
• Acas first: you must notify Acas before making a tribunal claim, and Acas then offers early conciliation (Acas, updated 1 October 2026).
• Compensation: for a claim about the request procedure, the cap is 8 weeks' pay (Flexible Working Regulations 2014, reg. 6).

What changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025?

The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. Section 9 rewrites the refusal test. An employer will be able to refuse only if a listed ground applies and it is reasonable to refuse on that ground, and the refusal notice will have to state the ground and explain why refusing is reasonable. The section also lets the government set out in regulations what consultation must involve.

Timing. Section 9 has been in force since 6 January 2026 only for the purpose of making regulations (SI 2026/3, reg. 2(6)). The government's implementation timeline, updated 22 October 2026, lists flexible working among the measures taking effect in October 2027, and notes that future dates may change. Acas says it will update its Code of Practice to reflect the changes expected in 2027 (Acas).

What it means for your request now. The template does not change: the items a request must contain are untouched. What changes in 2027 is the bar your employer has to clear to say no. It remains a right to request, not a right to work flexibly.

Northern Ireland: different rules

The 2024 changes apply in England, Scotland and Wales; the Flexible Working Regulations 2014 extend to Great Britain only. Northern Ireland has its own rules. According to nidirect, retrieved 28 October 2026:

• You need 26 weeks' continuous service with your employer before applying.
• You can make one statutory request in any 12 months.
• Your application must still explain the effect you think the change would have on your employer and how it could be dealt with, as well as the items in the template above.
• Your employer should meet you within 28 days and give a written decision within 14 days of that meeting. You can appeal in writing within 14 days of the decision.
• The same eight business reasons apply.

If you work in Northern Ireland, add a short paragraph on the effect on your employer and how you would handle it. The optional "how it would work in practice" section of the letter template is a good starting point.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a flexible working request have to be a letter?

No. It has to be in writing and dated, so an email is fine if it contains every required item. Send it where your employer's policy says, for the timing reason explained in the email section above.

Do I have to give a reason for my flexible working request?

No. The law requires the change, the start date, a statement that it is a statutory request, the date and any previous request. A reason is optional. Giving one can help your manager understand the request, but you can keep personal circumstances private.

How many flexible working requests can I make?

Two statutory requests to the same employer in any 12-month period in Great Britain, and only one at a time. In Northern Ireland, the limit is one in 12 months. You can make informal requests as often as you like, but they do not carry the statutory protections.

Can my employer refuse a flexible working request?

Yes, but only for one or more of eight business reasons, such as extra costs or an effect on quality or performance, and only after consulting you. The decision, including any appeal, is due within two months. Under changes the government plans for October 2027, the refusal will also have to be reasonable, with an explanation.

Can I ask to work from home under a statutory request?

Yes. The statutory right covers where you work as between your home and your employer's premises, so a request for home or hybrid working is a standard statutory request. Specify the days, the hours and the start date, as in the hybrid example above.

Before you send it

Check five things: the words "statutory request", the date, the change, the start date and the previous-request line. Then add the parts that make a yes easier: how you will stay reachable, how your work stays visible, and a trial with a review date. Send it to the address your policy names, keep a copy and diary the date two months on.

For the rules in Ireland, the EU, the US and elsewhere, see the right to request remote work, country by country. If your employer is moving the other way, see how to respond to a return-to-office mandate, and the remote work articles cover making an agreed arrangement last.

Sources

Legislation (legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 28 October 2026)

• Employment Rights Act 1996, s80F, s80G and s80H; s80F as at 5 April 2024.
• Flexible Working Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1398), regulations 4, 5 and 6.
• Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1328), in force 6 April 2024.
• Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, section 1, in force 6 April 2024.
• Employment Rights Act 2025, section 9, Royal Assent 18 December 2025; Commencement No. 1 Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/3), reg. 2.

Government and Acas guidance

• GOV.UK. Flexible working: applying, after the application and appeals. Retrieved 28 October 2026.
• GOV.UK (updated 22 October 2026). Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update.
• Acas (6 April 2024). Code of Practice on requests for flexible working.
• Acas (6 April 2024). Flexible working request letter template.
• Acas (updated 14 January 2026). The right to request flexible working.
• Acas (updated 1 October 2026). Early conciliation.
• nidirect. Flexible working and work-life balance (Northern Ireland). Retrieved 28 October 2026.

Written by Don, DoneThat's AI coach (LinkedIn) - so this article is AI-written. It is general information about the law in Great Britain and Northern Ireland as of 28 October 2026, not legal advice. Every legal claim links to legislation.gov.uk, GOV.UK, Acas or nidirect. Reviewed by Christoph Hartmann, founder of DoneThat. More about DoneThat; corrections and questions go to support.