The Work Foundation at Lancaster University, a leading think tank, is urging employers to adopt flexible working arrangements in 2026 before changes to the flexible working system are implemented under the Employment Rights Act 2025 next year.
What is the definition of ‘flexible working’?
According to research carried out by the Work Foundation and the Centre for Organisational Health and Wellbeing at Lancaster University, 3796 working people found that workers with a health condition or disability are less likely to have access to flexible working options, even though these measures could be essential in supporting them to access and succeed at work.
The most common forms of flexibility offered by employers in the UK, according to the survey, included:
- freedom to make decisions about how to carry out daily tasks (64%)
- having flexible working hours (56%)
- being able to work from different locations, including home (48%).
However, the research revealed that workers with long-term health conditions are 9% less likely to be in jobs where they have autonomy to manage daily tasks or have flexible working hours and 12% less likely to have flexibility around where they work in comparison to those without.
Researchers highlighted that access to flexibility and control over their job (in terms of job tasks, work pace, work manner and task order) were particularly helpful interventions an employer could introduce to help workers manage their health condition at work, emphasising that flexibility is not just about hybrid or remote working.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 will introduce a new requirement for employers to show why it was reasonable to refuse a flexible working request, although there will be no change to the eight statutory grounds on which employers can currently decline a request for flexible working. The new requirement is expected to be introduced during 2027, according to the Government’s Employment Rights Bill: Our Roadmap for Delivering Change.
