The summer holidays have begun, and many employers face a familiar challenge: balancing increased requests for annual leave against the operational needs of the business.
This year, employers may also notice greater awareness of family-friendly workplace rights following the ongoing implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025, and may therefore see an increase in flexible working and/or parental leave requests. However, whilst statutory rights are evolving, the practical challenge remains the same: how can employers manage multiple requests fairly, consistently and without damaging employee relations?
This article explores how employers can manage competing annual leave, flexible working and parental leave requests during the summer holiday period, while complying with evolving employment law obligations and reducing the risk of workplace disputes and discrimination claims.
Since 6 April 2024, all employees have the right to make a statutory flexible working request from their first day of employment. The request can seek changes to hours worked, start and finish times, days worked or place of work e.g. homeworking or hybrid working.
The statutory requirements govern how a flexible working request must be made, and how an employer must consider these requests. An employer can only refuse a flexible working request on the basis of a genuine business reason, and there are limited, prescribed reasons that can be relied upon, which include detrimental impact on customer demand, and inability to reorganise work among existing staff.
Parental leave is a statutory right that allows eligible employees to take time off work to care for or spend time with a child. Subject to meeting eligibility requirements, an employee can take up to 18 weeks of unpaid parental leave for each child up to the child’s 18th birthday - normally, no more than four weeks per child per year may be taken, and leave is generally taken in whole-week blocks, unless the employer agrees otherwise or the child is disabled.
An employer cannot simply refuse a valid parental leave request, but in limited circumstances may postpone the leave if the business would be unduly disrupted by the employee’s absence.
Unpaid parental leave has been a day-one employment right since 6 April 2026.
School holidays often lead to an increase in leave requests, presenting employers with the practical challenge of accommodating requests where possible while manage these requests in line with the needs of the business.
Both parental leave requests, and flexible working requests, must be made and considered in line with the relevant statutory framework.
Within this framework, and as part of wider workforce planning, managers should consider:
anticipated staffing requirements and customer or client demand during holiday periods,
busy operational periods when leave may be restricted,
communicating leave booking deadlines in advance,
ensuring clear communication to employees as to how requests will be assessed,
whether any alternative arrangements can be put in place,
reviewing flexible working arrangements already in place; and
ensuring managers understand relevant workplace policies.
Employers should take care when making decisions about parental leave and flexible working requests. Managers should ensure decisions are based on genuine business reasons, in line with the statutory framework, and that those reasons can be clearly explained and evidenced where necessary.
Policies or practices that place employees with childcare or other caring responsibilities at a particular disadvantage may give rise to discrimination risks if they cannot be objectively justified. This is because they can disproportionately disadvantage groups protected under the Equality Act 2010, for example women, who are statistically more likely to have primary childcare responsibilities. Employers should therefore ensure that decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, taking account of both individual circumstances and business needs, within the framework of clear workplace policies and procedures.
Employers may find it helpful to refresh management training ahead of peak holiday periods to ensure those responsible for approving requests understand the organisation's approach as well as the statutory basis on which requests must be considered.
Employers should take the opportunity to review their current approach to employee requests.
A useful checklist includes:
Review family leave and flexible working policies and ensure they reflect the statutory framework.
Communicate holiday booking procedures clearly.
Ensure managers understand escalation procedures and where they can obtain support if needed.
Apply objective criteria, in line with statutory requirements, where multiple requests are received.
Keep records of decisions and the reasons behind them.
Explore alternative arrangements before refusing or postponing requests.
Ensure decisions regarding competing requests are documented.
By adopting a proactive and consistent approach, employers can minimise disruption, maintain employee engagement and reduce the risk of workplace disputes during one of the busiest periods for flexible working and leave requests.
If you need advice on managing parental leave and/or flexible working requests, or any other employment law queries, please contact our employment team.
We produce a range of insights and publications to help keep our clients up-to-date with legal and sector developments.
Sign up
