Saying no to flexible working: what Acas's draft code will expect from employers

Acas has published a draft Code of Practice on handling flexible working requests. It is the guidance tribunals that will look at once the next round of flexible working changes comes in, expected in autumn 2027.

TL;DR - You will still be able to say no to a request, but you will need to show that saying no was reasonable, and that you followed a proper process to get there. For small businesses, that is less about paperwork and more about how decisions get made.

What are the rules today?

Since April 2024 employees have been able to request flexible working from their first day in a job. They can make two requests in any 12 month period, and you have two months to make a decision, including any appeal.

You must consult the employee before refusing a request, and any refusal has to be based on one of eight business reasons set out in law. These include extra costs, an inability to reorganise work among existing staff, and a detrimental effect on quality or performance.

At the moment, a tribunal mainly checks that you dealt with the request in a reasonable manner and that your reason was one of the eight. It does not look closely at whether the reason actually stood up.

So what is changing in 2027?

The government confirmed in September 2026 that employers will only be able to refuse a request where it is reasonable to do so. In practice that means three things:

• You will still need to rely on one of the business reasons.

• You will need to be able to explain why relying on that reason was reasonable in this case.

• You will need to follow a set consultation process before refusing, with the steps written into regulations.

The new Code sits alongside those rules and explains how Acas expects them to work day to day. Until the changes take effect, the current Code still applies.

What does the draft Code say?

The draft is built around four principles for reaching a reasonable decision:

• making decisions based on evidence

• adapting where possible to make a request work

• working together to find a solution

• acting transparently and consistently

None of these will surprise anyone who already handles requests well. What changes is that a tribunal is more likely to ask whether you actually did them.

Evidence

If you say a change would hurt customer service or cost too much, you should be able to show why. That might be rota cover, workload figures, or how similar requests have worked out before. A manager's instinct is unlikely to be enough.