Should employees have a default right to work from home?
Employees in the UK have held a statutory right to request flexible working, including remote arrangements, from their first day of employment since 2024. Employers can currently refuse such requests for one of eight business reasons such as costs, performance impacts or inability to meet customer demand. In September 2026 the Labour government announced further reforms via the Employment Rights Act requiring face-to-face meetings and detailed explanations when refusing requests, due to take effect in 2027.
3 Opinions
As an employee you work for an employer, who chooses what you do for the pay you receive. If you don’t like it, find another job, or start your own business
Another way for workshy ne'er-do-wells to use lawfare against business owners.
Yes BUT there are obviously many roles in which remote working isn't possible or feasible and these should be clearly set out in legislation. Most office roles should strive for a hybrid model with regular in-person collaboration with flexibility to give employees work-life balance. I do feel a lot of the big companies have this well worked out at the moment, at least in the industries I've worked in.