Do employers need a hybrid working policy?
No law requires a standalone hybrid working policy, but Acas says employers should have one. It helps managers handle requests consistently under the statutory flexible working rules, explains how hybrid arrangements work, and links to health and safety, data protection and contract terms. Flexible working changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 are expected in October 2027.
How hybrid requests fit the law
Hybrid working, a mix of remote and workplace working, is a type of flexible working. Employees have the right to make a statutory flexible working request from their first day in a job. Employers must deal with requests in a reasonable manner, discuss the request before refusing it, decide within 2 months unless a longer period is agreed, and can refuse only for one of the business reasons set out in law.
A disabled employee may ask to work from home as a reasonable adjustment instead of making a flexible working request. GOV.UK's Employment Rights Act 2025 timeline lists flexible working changes for October 2027, subject to Parliament.
What Acas suggests a policy covers
- how to request home or hybrid working and how the employer will respond
- which types of home or hybrid working are available and how roles will be assessed
- how employee needs will be considered and how decisions are made
- how arrangements will be set up, supported, reviewed and, where appropriate, trialled
Contracts, safety and data
Acas advises checking whether contracts need to change, for example where they name a specific workplace address. If contract terms change, employers must put the changes in writing within one month. Where no contract change is needed, the agreement should still be confirmed in writing.
HSE says employers have the same health and safety responsibilities for home workers as for any other worker, including those who split their time between home and the workplace. Risk assessments should consider stress and mental health, safe use of computer equipment and the working environment. The ICO notes that monitoring of home workers carries a greater risk of intruding into private and family life.
The law
“deal with the application in a reasonable manner…”
Sources
- Home and hybrid working policies · Acas
- Requesting home or hybrid working · Acas
- Flexible working · GOV.UK
- Managing home workers' health and safety · HSE
- Data protection and monitoring workers · ICO
- Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act: timeline update · GOV.UK
General information for employers in Great Britain, not legal advice. Check the official sources for your situation.
- Flexible working changes under the Employment Rights Act 2025 expected
Future dates are expected dates and depend on Parliament.
What employers can do
- Write or update a home and hybrid working policy and consult employees or their representatives
- Train managers to handle statutory requests within the legal time limit
- Check contracts for place of work clauses and confirm agreed changes in writing
- Extend risk assessments to home working, including display screen equipment and wellbeing
- Set rules on information security and any monitoring of remote workers
- Review the policy as the October 2027 flexible working changes are confirmed
Related answers
- How should employers handle flexible working requests? Employees can make a statutory flexible working request from day one, up to twice in any 12 months. Employers must handle it reasonably, consult the employee before refusing, and decide within 2 months, including any appeal. Refusal must rest on a listed business reason. A stricter reasonableness test is expected from October 2027.
- Can employers monitor their staff? Yes, but the ICO says monitoring must be lawful, fair and transparent under data protection law. Employers need a clear purpose, a lawful basis, the least intrusive method that achieves it, and must tell workers about it. A data protection impact assessment is required for high-risk monitoring, and covert monitoring is justified only in exceptional circumstances.
- When must employers make reasonable adjustments? Under the Equality Act 2010, employers must make reasonable adjustments when they know, or could reasonably be expected to know, that a worker or job applicant is disabled and is likely to be put at a substantial disadvantage by a working practice, a physical feature or the lack of an auxiliary aid. The employer pays for the adjustments.