The Rota · sources

Chapter 11: The Conversation the Law Requires

2 sources. Checked September 2026. Note 1 corrected 24 September 2026.

Every claim in this chapter is traced to the source behind it. Below is each one, numbered as it appears in the book, with a link that opens the original.

Employment Rights Act 1996, s. 80G, as amended (legislation.gov.uk, read directly): an employer must deal with a flexible working application "in a reasonable manner," must not refuse it "unless the employee has been consulted about the application," and may only refuse it if the employer considers that one or more of eight specified grounds applies (burden of additional costs, detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand, inability to re-organise work among existing staff, inability to recruit additional staff, detrimental impact on quality, detrimental impact on performance, insufficiency of work during the proposed working periods or planned structural changes). The Employment Rights Act 2025, c. 36, s. 9 will add a requirement that it is reasonable for the employer to refuse on the ground given. That section was commenced on 6 January 2026 only for the purpose of making regulations (SI 2026/3, reg. 2), and Acas states that the change will take effect in 2027.
www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/section/80G
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/3
www.acas.org.uk/employment-rights-act-2025
Acas, Code of Practice on requests for flexible working (2024) (acas.org.uk, read directly): paragraph 12 states employers "must not reject a request without first consulting the employee"; paragraph 17 covers exploring alternatives as part of reasonable handling; paragraph 25 describes offering an appeal as good practice, though not a legal requirement; the Code's own notes state that failing to follow it "does not, in itself, make a person or organisation liable to legal proceedings," but that "employment tribunals will take the Code into account when considering relevant cases.".
www.acas.org.uk/acas-code-of-practice-on-flexible-working-requests

Sources for the other chapters are listed at ageingparent.co.uk/sources. Free guides on the topics in this book are at ageingparent.co.uk.