Legal Framework and Types of Flexible Working

Covering Assessment Criterion 4.3 of 5OS01 Specialist Employment Law, this video addresses the statutory framework governing flexible working rights in the UK, with particular attention to the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023. The legislative changes that came into force in April 2024 are central to the content, including the removal of the previous 26-week qualifying service requirement and the shift to flexible working as a day one right. The video also examines the revised limit on the number of statutory requests an employee may submit within any 12-month period.

The video maps out the three broad legal categories through which flexible working arrangements are defined: changes to hours of work, changes to times of work, and changes to the location of work. Within each category the content covers specific arrangement types, including part-time and compressed hours, annualised hours, flexitime, term-time only working, and remote or hybrid working. This taxonomy is drawn directly from the statutory framework rather than from informal workplace practice, keeping the discussion grounded in what the law actually recognises as a qualifying request.

Alongside the definitional and legislative content, the video situates flexible working rights within the broader indicative content for AC 4.3, which encompasses qualifying service thresholds, the grounds on which requests may be made — including caring responsibilities and religious observance — the statutory reasons an employer may use to refuse a request, and the remedies available to employees where the process has not been followed correctly. Together, these elements form the legal boundary within which HR practitioners must operate when handling flexible working requests.