Background
Flexible working is any working pattern other than ‘normal’ working hours and can involve changes to the hours an employee works, the times they are required to work or their place of work. The legal requirements for employers under current legislation are available here. Flexible working can encompass a range of work patterns and there is a wide variety to explore. Many jobs cannot accommodate every type of flexibility but should be able to support some aspect of flexible working.
The pandemic drove a surge in remote, hybrid and homeworking, with some employers embracing home- and hybrid working for the first time out of necessity. This prompted a lasting shift in many organisations, with the government subsequently reforming working regulations giving employees wider rights around requesting flexible work and consultation. Offering flexible working patterns, where this is an option, is usually considered positively, both by existing and potential future employees.
What are the benefits of flexible working?
Implementing more flexible working options can have both direct and indirect business benefits. Many employees will face complex personal circumstances during their working life such as adjusting to a new caring responsibility, a period of caring for a sick family member, managing changes in their own health or dealing with a breakdown in care arrangements. Indirectly, a business can benefit from its employees having greater levels of job satisfaction and commitment, with reduced rates of absence and better mental health, all of which have been highlighted in research on this subject. Direct benefits can include savings on office space if remote working or hot desking are used, and better matching resources and demand, for example, extending the working hours of a business by having employees on different hourly patterns. A business may also attract new recruits (as well as retaining existing talent) by offering them some flexibility around their role and adaptability to their changing priorities.
What can employers do?
It is important to understand there is a stigma attached to flexible working because of a negative association with women seeking to balance work and caring commitments. Many do not request flexible working because of concerns their employer would view their request negatively, assuming that they are not serious about their job or career. Line managers and employer behaviour plays a key role in lowering barriers to flexible working, for example, employees should feel that they can discuss a need to work flexibly with their managers at any point.
Employers must remain vigilant to the possibility that those who work flexibly may receive negative treatment. Research shows that many working mothers, for example, have experienced discrimination or disadvantage as a direct result of moving to flexible working, including receiving negative comments, being given more junior tasks than previously and fewer opportunities than other colleagues at the same level. Employees should not need to pay a price of being undervalued in order to access flexibility.
Employers should share their approach to flexible work, rather than employees having to ask when they feel such a request would be held against them. Special events are not reasonable grounds for requesting flexible working but allowing flexibility for special occasions can be good for staff morale. Although flexible working options may not be as practical for smaller employers, there can still be space for flexibility in a small, close-knit team.
Flexible working can include a range of options around time, i.e., when do people work? This can mean part-time working, agreed shift patterns, varying start, finish and break times, flexitime, compressed hours (eg, working the same number of hours every week but over fewer days), job shares, term-time only or different hours during the holidays, annualised hours, eg, a set number of hours over a year or some agreed phasing/stages during a period of transition such as returning to work after pregnancy or sickness or leading up to retirement.
Flexibility can also relate to location, homeworking or working at another location (or multiple locations).
Visit the Remote and Agile Working: Good Practice for more information.
Some ideas for action
- Review communication of policies, and where possible (primarily for larger employers) ensure that line managers and HR staff are trained in this area. Smaller employers may not be able to do this but can make full use of tools from government and third-sector organisations to consider the options and enhance and promote their policies.
- Provide employees a one-to-one meeting with HR and/or line manager to discuss flexible work options if they are considering requesting this.
- Look at all the options! Where a permanent flexible working arrangement is not possible, there may be potential for a temporary flexible arrangement. It is advisable that these are established for a fixed duration, to ensure that they are operationally possible.
- Promoting flexible working as being beneficial to both women and men, to challenge the traditional stereotype of these working patterns only being suitable for women with children.
- Obtaining feedback from employees who work flexibly to learn from their experiences. Monitoring those who work flexibly to ensure that they are not disadvantaged in terms of career progress.
- Issuing policy and guidance around flexible working which is openly endorsed by senior employees and the business. Managers also acting as role models in their use of flexible working.
- Showcasing different potential arrangements via case studies to give employees an opportunity to consider the options, including both women and men to challenge views that flexible working is all about mothers working part-time.
- Providing employees with resources and helplines (drawing on a wide range which are freely available) and helping them consider and put forward a business case that is aligned to the employer’s needs.
- Highlighting flexibility and differing work pattern options in adverts for new staff.
- When hiring, encouraging managers to consider how a role can be carried out flexibly from the start, and use the ‘happy to talk flexible working’ logo and strapline when advertising the role.
For some additional reading and resources for this page click here.
