Flexible Working, Family Leave and Carer Rights in the UK

Requests to work flexibly, take family leave, or care for a relative are now some of the most common conversations managers have with their teams — and the legal ground beneath them shifted significantly from April 2024. Employees gained a day-one right to request flexible working, paternity leave rules were relaxed, and a brand-new entitlement to unpaid carer's leave came into force. For managers and HR teams, getting the basics right matters: mishandling a statutory request is one of the more common routes into an employment tribunal claim. This guide sets out what changed, what the current rules require, and how to apply them consistently and fairly.

What changed in April 2024: a day-one right to request flexible working

The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023, supported by updated regulations, took effect on 6 April 2024 and reshaped the statutory flexible working regime in several ways:

• No qualifying service period. Employees can now make a statutory flexible working request from their first day in a job. Previously they needed 26 weeks' continuous service.
• Two requests a year, not one. Employees can make up to two statutory requests in any 12-month period, doubling the previous limit.
• Faster decisions. Employers must notify the employee of their decision within two months of receiving the request, down from three, unless a longer period is agreed.
• A duty to consult. Employers must consult with the employee before refusing a request, rather than being able to reject it outright on paper.
• No obligation to justify the request. Employees no longer have to explain what effect the change might have on the business or suggest how that could be managed — though doing so voluntarily still helps a manager assess the request.

What has not changed is the list of statutory business reasons an employer can rely on to refuse a request: the burden of additional costs, an inability to reorganise work among existing staff, an inability to recruit additional staff, a detrimental impact on quality or performance, a detrimental effect on the business's ability to meet customer demand, insufficient work for the periods the employee proposes to work, planned structural changes, and any other reason specified in regulations. A refusal must still fall within one of these grounds and should be evidenced, not assumed.

Running the statutory flexible working request process

The Acas Code of Practice on requests for flexible working sets the standard employers are expected to follow, and tribunals can adjust compensation where it is ignored. In practice, managers and HR should:

• Acknowledge the request promptly and confirm it is being treated as a statutory request.
• Arrange a conversation with the employee to discuss the request and explore options, rather than deciding from the written form alone.
• Consider a trial period where the impact of a change is genuinely uncertain, rather than an outright refusal.
• Decide and communicate the outcome in writing within two months, including clear reasons if the request is refused.
• Offer a right of appeal as good practice, even though it is not a strict legal requirement under the current rules.

Many flexible working requests now result in some form of hybrid or remote arrangement, which brings its own management and security considerations — see Learnsignal's guide to setting up secure remote and hybrid working policies for the practical follow-on once a request is agreed.

Statutory family leave: the basics managers need to know

Family leave entitlements are more established than the 2024 flexible working changes, but managers still routinely get the detail wrong. Because statutory pay rates are uprated every April, this guide deliberately avoids quoting fixed figures — always check the current rates on gov.uk before advising an employee. The entitlement structures themselves are more stable:

• Maternity leave is a day-one right of up to 52 weeks (26 weeks' ordinary maternity leave plus 26 weeks' additional maternity leave). Statutory Maternity Pay is available for up to 39 of those weeks to employees who meet continuity-of-service and earnings tests, typically paid at a higher rate for the first six weeks and a lower standard weekly rate (or a percentage of earnings if lower) after that.
• Paternity leave allows eligible employees to take up to two weeks. Since 6 April 2024, for births and adoptions from that date, the two weeks can be taken as two separate one-week blocks instead of one consecutive block, and leave can be taken any time within the 52 weeks after the birth or placement rather than only within the first eight weeks. Notice requirements were also relaxed.
• Shared Parental Leave (SPL) lets eligible parents split up to 50 weeks of leave and 37 weeks of pay between them after the two weeks of compulsory maternity leave. Eligibility is more complex than maternity or paternity leave: it depends on both parents meeting separate employment and earnings tests, so HR involvement early in the process is worthwhile.
• Adoption leave broadly mirrors maternity leave for one member of an adopting couple, or a single adopter: up to 52 weeks, available from day one of employment, with Statutory Adoption Pay following a similar structure to Statutory Maternity Pay. The other partner may instead take paternity leave or SPL.

Family leave sits alongside a wider set of employment law reforms working through Parliament; Learnsignal's overview of the Employment Rights Act 2025 and what it means for employers is a useful companion piece for HR teams tracking what's coming next.

The Carer's Leave Act 2023: one week's unpaid leave for carers

The Carer's Leave Act 2023 also came into force on 6 April 2024, introducing a new statutory entitlement aimed specifically at employees juggling work with caring responsibilities. Key features managers should know:

• Day-one right. There is no minimum length of service required to qualify.
• Up to one week per year. Eligible employees can take up to one week's unpaid leave in any rolling 12-month period (pro-rated for part-time staff based on their normal working pattern, not a calendar week).
• To care for a dependant with long-term care needs. This covers a spouse, civil partner, child, parent, someone who lives in the same household, or anyone who reasonably relies on the employee for care, where that person has an illness or injury likely to last more than three months, a disability, or care needs related to old age.
• Flexible in how it's taken. Employees can take individual days or half-days rather than a single block, which suits the often unpredictable nature of caring responsibilities.
• Limited notice, no evidence required. Employees generally need to give notice of at least twice the length of leave requested (or three days if that's greater), and employers cannot require supporting evidence — self-certification is sufficient.
• Protection from detriment or dismissal. Employees are protected against being treated unfairly for taking, or asking to take, carer's leave.

Because carer's leave is unpaid, it's often used alongside annual leave, flexible working arrangements, or informal manager support rather than on its own — which makes joined-up policy and manager awareness especially important.

Practical guidance for managers and HR teams

• Maintain a single, clear policy covering flexible working requests and carer's leave, so decisions are applied consistently across teams rather than left to individual manager discretion.
• Train line managers to recognise a statutory request even when it isn't labelled as one — an employee doesn't need to cite the legislation for a request to count, especially for carer's leave, which can be requested informally.
• Track request dates, decision deadlines, and how many statutory flexible working requests each employee has made in the past 12 months centrally, so nothing is missed.
• Build a culture where asking for flexibility, family leave, or carer's leave doesn't carry a reputational or career cost — this reduces both attrition and the risk of discrimination claims.
• Keep managers current on the detail through regular refreshers; Learnsignal's CPD courses cover employment law updates like these as part of ongoing professional development for HR and people managers.

FAQ

Does an employee need to give a reason for a flexible working request?
Since April 2024, employees are no longer required to explain the impact of the requested change on the business or suggest how it could be managed, although many still choose to, as it helps the employer assess the request.

Is carer's leave paid?
No. Carer's leave under the Carer's Leave Act 2023 is unpaid, which sets it apart from maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave. Some employers choose to enhance it voluntarily as part of their benefits offering.

Who counts as a "dependant" for carer's leave purposes?
A spouse, civil partner, child, parent, someone who lives in the same household as the employee (excluding tenants, lodgers and employees), or anyone who reasonably relies on the employee for care — provided they have a long-term care need.

How many flexible working requests can an employee make?
Up to two statutory requests in any rolling 12-month period, each of which the employer must decide on within two months unless a longer timeframe is agreed.

Flexible working, family leave and carer's leave now sit closer together in practice than the legislation might suggest — and getting the process right, consistently, protects both the business and its people.