The Department for Business & Trade today published its formal response to the House of Lords Home-based Working Select Committee, setting out a cross-government roadmap to normalise remote and hybrid working. Updated on 4 March, the paper confirms that under the Employment Rights Act 2025 employers will have to treat flexible-working requests as the default unless refusal is ‘reasonable’, with supporting Acas guidance due ahead of reforms taking effect in 2027.
While the document focuses on domestic labour-market issues, it has clear implications for international mobility programmes. The government intends to promote ‘equitable access’ to remote roles through public-procurement criteria and will explore tax and social-security guidance for cross-border telework. That could open regulated pathways for staff to live overseas while remaining on UK payrolls – a model many firms improvised during the pandemic but have struggled to legitimise.
The paper also commits to a new stakeholder group bringing business and trade unions together to advise on flexible arrangements across time zones – something mobility managers should track to ensure overseas-work-day relief, posted-worker rules and right-to-work checks keep pace.
![Government embraces hybrid future: new policy paper pledges easier flexible-working requests by 2027]()
Amid these developments, organisations may also need practical assistance with the visa and work-authorisation implications of cross-border telework. VisaHQ’s dedicated UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) provides up-to-date guidance, streamlined application management and compliance tools that help both employers and employees secure the correct paperwork quickly, keeping remote and hybrid arrangements legally sound wherever staff choose to base themselves.
Employers are encouraged to start scenario-planning for hybrid-eligible roles, audit employment contracts for location clauses, and review data-protection and cyber-security frameworks that will underpin any cross-border remote-work policy. For expatriate programmes, an uptick in ‘virtual assignments’ could change demand for housing, schooling and tax equalisation packages.
Although final legislation is two years away, the direction of travel is clear: the UK wants to embed flexibility as a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent, an agenda that intersects directly with global mobility strategy.
While the document focuses on domestic labour-market issues, it has clear implications for international mobility programmes. The government intends to promote ‘equitable access’ to remote roles through public-procurement criteria and will explore tax and social-security guidance for cross-border telework. That could open regulated pathways for staff to live overseas while remaining on UK payrolls – a model many firms improvised during the pandemic but have struggled to legitimise.
The paper also commits to a new stakeholder group bringing business and trade unions together to advise on flexible arrangements across time zones – something mobility managers should track to ensure overseas-work-day relief, posted-worker rules and right-to-work checks keep pace.
Amid these developments, organisations may also need practical assistance with the visa and work-authorisation implications of cross-border telework. VisaHQ’s dedicated UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) provides up-to-date guidance, streamlined application management and compliance tools that help both employers and employees secure the correct paperwork quickly, keeping remote and hybrid arrangements legally sound wherever staff choose to base themselves.
Employers are encouraged to start scenario-planning for hybrid-eligible roles, audit employment contracts for location clauses, and review data-protection and cyber-security frameworks that will underpin any cross-border remote-work policy. For expatriate programmes, an uptick in ‘virtual assignments’ could change demand for housing, schooling and tax equalisation packages.
Although final legislation is two years away, the direction of travel is clear: the UK wants to embed flexibility as a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent, an agenda that intersects directly with global mobility strategy.
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