Petition · past parliament
Make flexible working requests available to all with presumption of approval
Closed
40 signatures
What the petition asks
Give employees the right to request flexible working from day 1 of employment and create a presumption in favour of flexible working by placing the burden on employers to demonstrate that a role is unsuitable for flexible working, including part-time hours, annualised hours and job sharing.
Under current legislation, workers do not have the right to request flexible working until they have completed 26 weeks of service. There is currently no obligation to accept a request and these can be rejected for a number of reasons.
The current legislation causes a substantial barrier to many groups such as; women, carers and those with disabilities. As many roles only consider applicants that can work full time.
A day 1 right would remove this barrier and help to remove the gender pay gap.
The current legislation causes a substantial barrier to many groups such as; women, carers and those with disabilities. As many roles only consider applicants that can work full time.
A day 1 right would remove this barrier and help to remove the gender pay gap.
Timeline
| 10 May 2021 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 10 Nov 2021 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
40
Status
Closed
Opened
10 May 2021
Closed
10 Nov 2021
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.