Even if you aren't a parent or a carer, if you've worked for the same employer for more than 26 weeks you've a legal right to ask your employer to consider offering flexible working arrangements. You do this by sending a letter to your employer that's legally known as a statutory application. Your employer then has three months to consider the request, or longer with your agreement. At the end of this period, your employer can either agree to the request and amend your contract of employment accordingly, or they can deny the request and write back explaining the reasons why. Some of the types of flexible working you can ask for include: Job sharing: Where two people share a job and split the hours between them, either equally or unequally Working from home: When it's possible for you to do some or all of your work away from your normal place of work Part-time: Working less than full-time hours Compressed hours: Working full-time hours every month but over fewer days Flexitime: Enjoying flexibility over start and finish times, but working agreed 'core hours' and working to the usual total of hours in your contract Annualised hours: Like flexitime, but with the hours worked spread over a full year Staggered hours: When you have different start, finish and break times from other workers Phased retirement: There is no longer a fixed retirement age, so this allows you to gradually reduce hours before full retirement Importantly, your employer must give reasonable consideration to requests for all of these flexible working practices. This doesn't mean they have to agree to your request; but they must give their reasons if they deny it, and if those reasons are inadequate, we may be able to help you take your case to an employment tribunal. To speak to one of our experienced employment solicitors about difficulties making a flexible working request, call us on 0330 041 5869 or contact us and we'll call you.