Over the spring, the government issued a consultation Make Work Pay: improving access to flexible working, and it has now published its response.

The government has confirmed the reforms to flexible working under the Employment Rights Act 2025 will proceed. The changes are intended to make it more likely that reasonable and feasible requests for flexible working are accepted, while preserving employers’ ability to refuse requests where there are genuine operational reasons.

The response recognises the benefits of flexible working for both sides of the employment relationship.