Remote working (where you work from home) and hybrid working (where you split your time between home and a place of business) are now a permanent feature of British employment. Many contracts include home working as standard, and employees expect flexibility around where and when they work.
But greater flexibility also raises new questions. Can your employer insist you return to the office? Are they required to cover your home-working costs? What protections do you have if you’re overlooked for promotions because you’re not physically present? Unsurprisingly, Tribunal cases relating to flexible working are on the rise.
British employment law has adapted to the trend in flexible working. Employees have defined rights around flexible working, health and safety at home, fair treatment, and protection from discrimination.
This guide sets out your legal rights as a remote or hybrid employee, and explains what to do if those rights aren’t respected.
Since April 2024, all employees in Great Britain have had the right to request flexible working from day one of employment. Flexible working means making a change to the hours, times or location of your work.
Tip: If your request is refused unfairly, you may be able to challenge it — especially if it indirectly discriminates against you because of your sex, disability, or other protected characteristic.
Where you work isn’t just a practical issue — it’s a contractual one. Your employment contract should make clear whether your main place of work is the office, your home, or a combination of both.
Key point: Always check your contract — your rights to work remotely or in a hybrid pattern may already be protected in writing.
Tip: If your employer accepts your flexible working request, make sure your employment contract is updated to reflect the new arrangement. This will be important if your employer tries to make changes in the future. If your contract doesn’t need to be updated (because it already allows for flexible working), you should still request a written copy of the agreement.
Even if you work from home or split your time between locations, your employer still has a duty of care for your health, safety, and wellbeing. This duty extends beyond the office walls.
Employers should carry out assessments of your home or remote working setup. This doesn’t always mean a home visit — it can be done via self-assessment forms, photos, or video calls.The focus is on safe workstations, ergonomics, and preventing long-term strain or injury.
Employers must also consider risks like isolation, overwork, or burnout.
Reasonable steps might include regular check-ins, access to mental health support, or setting clear boundaries on working hours.
If your role requires specialist equipment (like ergonomic chairs, screens, or software), your employer may need to provide it. The rules on reasonable adjustments for disabled employees apply whether you’re remote or in the office.
Key takeaway: Health and safety law applies wherever you work. Employers cannot ignore their responsibilities just because you’re working from home.
Tip: If you’re working from home, you have a shared responsibility to take care of your own health and safety. Make sure you follow any health and safety guidance issued by your employer and report any potential risks.
Remote and hybrid work often raise questions about who pays for what. Clearer expectations have developed around equipment, expenses, and fairness in pay.
Tip: Always check your contract or company policy to see what your employer is obliged to cover — and don’t be afraid to ask if you think you’re being treated unfairly.
Remote and hybrid working offers flexibility. But there is a risk that employees who don’t spend as much time in the workplace will be treated unfairly - let’s take a look at why.
Proximity bias is when a manager unconsciously favours an employee who spends more time in the office, leading to preferential treatment for promotions, training, or opportunities. This is fed by a dated misconception that an employee who is ‘seen’ in the workplace is more productive and committed.
Your employer must establish objective criteria for promotions or pay increases to ensure these are not awarded based upon location. Your employer should also promote awareness of proximity bias through training and open conversation.
Access to opportunities; a lack of communication
Remote employees must have the same access to training, development, and career progression as office-based staff - ‘you weren’t here’ isn’t a valid excuse. Employers should prioritise digital communication so that remote employees are kept informed and able to participate in workplace discussions.
Protected characteristics
The Equality Act 2010 protects someone from being treated unfairly because they possess one or more of the nine protected characteristics. This protection applies to all employees, no matter where they’re based. Remote or hybrid arrangements often intersect with protected characteristics. For example:
If you’re being mis-treated because you work from home, it could be indirect discrimination.
Key takeaway: Employers must ensure remote and hybrid policies are fair and inclusive. If you’re disadvantaged because of remote working and can link this to a protected characteristic, it could amount to discrimination.
Remote and hybrid working has led more employers to use monitoring tools to track productivity, but there are strict limits on what they can do.
Tip: If you feel monitoring crosses the line into invasion of privacy, you may have grounds to challenge it with HR or raise a grievance.
Remote and hybrid staff have the same legal protections as office-based employees when it comes to redundancy. Employers cannot lawfully target people for redundancy just because they work from home.
Key point: Working remotely doesn’t make you more vulnerable to redundancy — and if it’s used as the reason, you may have a strong claim for unfair dismissal or discrimination.
The Employment Rights Bill is currently going through Parliament and is expected to become law in late 2025 or early 2026. If it passes in its current form, it will make important changes to the law on flexible working requests, likely coming into force during 2026–2027.
The new legislation (as the Bill stands now) introduces a ‘reasonableness test’. At the moment, an employer’s decision to refuse a flexible working request is valid if:
It doesn’t matter if the decision itself is unreasonable.
Under the new law, employers will only be able to rely on one of the eight grounds for refusal if it is reasonable to do so. The employer must explain to the employee why it is reasonable to select that ground as a reason for refusal.
In addition, the procedure for consultation with the employee is expected to be more clearly defined.
These changes will make it harder for an employer to refuse a request for flexible working. The law is continuing to adapt to the flexible working arrangements which employees expect.
If you believe your employer isn’t respecting your rights as a remote or hybrid employee, there are clear steps you can take.
Tip: Don’t wait until the problem escalates — acting early gives you more options and stronger evidence.
Bottom line: Remote and hybrid work doesn’t weaken your rights — in many ways, the law is catching up to strengthen them.
Remote and hybrid working may feel different, but your legal rights stay the same whether you are at home or in the office. If you feel your employer is not following the correct process, acting early can make all the difference.
If you are unsure where you stand, Valla’s Case Assessment can help you understand whether your employment rights may have been breached and what steps to take next. It is a simple way to get clarity before the situation escalates.
Start your case assessment here.