8. Time off and flexible working

Part VI of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 96) gives individuals the right to time off for various specific purposes and these are explained in this chapter. Extended time off for family leave (such as maternity and adoption leave) is covered in Chapter 9.

This chapter also covers the right to request flexible working, which was initially brought in by the Employment Act 2002 and is now also contained in the ERA 96 at section 57A. This gives qualifying employees the right to request a change to their working pattern. The right initially applied only to parents and carers and was designed to facilitate working arrangements that fit better with caring responsibilities. It has since been expanded to include all employees and no longer has to be for the purpose of caring.

• The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 came into force on 6 April 2024 and made some small changes to the provisions. These include the right to allow employees to make two flexible working requests in a year. The Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023 were then passed, which have the sole effect of removing the qualifying period of employment to make the right to request flexible working a day one right for employees.