Flexible work is rapidly evolving. What once was considered just a ‘quirk’ or publicity stunt is now widely accepted as the norm.
Demand for accessible flexible working has soared since the pandemic, and campaigners have been advocating for making it a legal right for all UK workers, irrespective of their employment circumstances.
Under the Employment Rights (Flexible Working) Act 2023 and Flexible Working (Amendment) Regulations 2023, all UK workers are now entitled to make flexible working requests from day one of employment.
Let’s explore flexible working, its main benefits, and how to implement flexible practices in your business.
Key Takeaways
- There are numerous types of flexible working, including remote, hybrid, compressed hours, and flexitime.
- By embracing flexible working, employers can benefit from increased retention, higher employee engagement, and a positive workplace culture.
- To implement flexible working arrangements, business owners should create a clear policy, provide relevant training, and do a trial run.
What is flexible working?
Flexible working is the umbrella term given to any working arrangement that provides a degree of flexibility in how, when, or where an employee works. This can include remote working, flexitime, part-time hours, job sharing, or a combination of these setups.
The general goal of flexible work is to provide employees with a greater work-life balance, increased job satisfaction, and improved wellbeing while still meeting the employer’s needs.
8 types of flexible working
Over recent years, a variety of flexible working styles have emerged. These include:
1. Remote working
One of the most popular forms of flexible working is remote working, (also known as working from home or ‘fully remote’ working). Although this working style has been around for some time, its popularity increased since Covid-19.
Unsurprisingly, remote working became easier with technological advancements and the lack of alternatives during the pandemic. With cloud-based systems and the continuous rise in e-commerce, many jobs can now be done entirely from home. Meanwhile, businesses can thrive with an online presence alone, making traditional office space redundant.
Workplace trends have continued to evolve since then. However, while many companies have transitioned back to the office in recent years, Statista research shows that, as of December 2024, around 14% of the UK population continues to embrace remote working (compared to nearly 40% in January 2021).
Why? Countless studies have linked this type of flexible working with a boost in employee productivity. Employers also gain significant cost savings thanks to lower overheads and operational fees.
2. Hybrid working
Hybrid working allows people to split their time between a fixed office location and working from home or remotely. Employees can enjoy the perks of having a structured office environment whilst benefiting from the autonomy of remote work.
This can work in a variety of ways – some more flexible than others – depending on the sector and the job’s requirements. For example, employees can have:
- Set days when they need to attend the office
- An allocated number of home working days per week
- The freedom to choose when they work from home and when they attend the office
Variety and flexibility are the key drivers behind hybrid working becoming the norm in the UK. In fact, its popularity has soared in recent years compared to remote working, as we can see from the chart below:
These two flexible working styles have switched around the first quarter of 2022. Now, 25% of people split their working week between home and the office.
3. Compressed hours
In a compressed workweek, an employee works the same number of total hours as in a traditional workweek but over fewer days. For example, they work 40 hours over 4 days instead of 5.
There is no single way of applying compressed hours. An employee could rearrange their working hours in various ways to either shorten specific days (e.g. by working an hour extra each day to have a half day on a certain weekday) or cut down their work week to extend their weekend.
Compressed hours aim to give staff longer periods of time off and enable a better work-life balance. They can also assist with childcare arrangements – for example, nursery or school pick ups or drop offs.
Is it worth working compressed hours?
The answer to this question is subjective. But that’s the beauty of flexible working – staff members can choose the pattern or schedule that suits their lifestyle and the needs of the business.
Compressed hours offer flexibility and a greater work-life balance without reducing the company’s work input. So, from this perspective, it’s worth working a compressed week.
However, longer hours in a shorter space of time could induce burnout. If an employee is at risk of this, it could impact their long-term health, so they might be better off spreading their hours across more days.
It’s essential to evaluate the practicality of a compressed week against the individual’s and the company’s needs.
What is 37.5 hours compressed into 4 days?
The average full-time employee works 37.5 hours a week, based on a five-day work week. That’s 7.5 hours per day.
If you were to compress that into four days, you’d work 9.4 hours a day instead, which is almost an extra two hours a day.
4. 4-day workweek
The 4-day workweek allows employees to work 4 days rather than 5 (typically Monday-Thursday) and enjoy a 3-day weekend without a reduction in pay. Unlike compressed hours, staff work fewer hours for the same amount of pay rather than attempting to cram their standard hours into fewer days.
The concept is to focus on smarter working and employee wellbeing whilst benefiting from social, economic, and environmental improvements.
Companies worldwide have been trialling the 4-day week since 2022, and the results have been astonishing. However, it hasn’t worked for everyone, with brands like ASDA and Krystal (a London-based tech company) scrapping the flexible working arrangement following the trial.
Overall, research shows that most participating businesses have seen incredible improvements, and over 90% of UK firms have permanently implemented this flexible working style. Further benefits that emerged from the trials include:
- Average revenue increased by 1.4%
- Business performance and productivity scored an average of 7.5/10
- Staff attrition decreased by nearly 60% during the trial period
5. Flexitime
Flexitime gives employees the freedom to work their contracted hours in a timeframe that suits them. This can be outside the typical office hours of 9-5. For example, an employee may start their shift an hour earlier to finish an hour earlier that day.
The employer normally enforces limitations to ensure teams are reachable during peak business hours. However, flexitime arrangements can give staff members more control over their work-life balance and personal needs.
Flexitime can help increase retention and boost productivity. Staff can work at times that are most convenient for them, giving them more freedom to balance work and family commitments, appointments, and hobbies.
How do you implement flextime?
If you’d like to introduce flexitime in your business, here are the steps we recommend taking:
1. Develop a clear policy that outlines employees’ core business hours, total working hours per week, and how staff members should record their hours worked. You should also establish which individual roles are eligible for flextime.
2. Provide managers and team leaders with adequate training on how to monitor flexitime staff.
3. Do a test run to see if flexitime works in your business. Ask for employee feedback to adjust and improve it.
The great thing is that flexitime is completely mouldable to your business needs and employees’ preferences. Maintain clear, open, and regular communication across the organisation to develop a flexible working plan that suits everyone.
Download a flexible working policy template from the ACAS website to get started.
6. Job sharing
Job sharing is when two (or sometimes more) employees share the responsibilities of a full-time role and agree on their work hours. Hours can vary so that they work together some parts of the week, or the setup may mean that they never overlap work schedules.
Job sharing comes in two different forms:
- The ‘twins model’ – employees work together to complete the same projects
- The ‘island model’ – employees work independently from one another on separate tasks
Job sharing can be beneficial for employers, as it means they can retain talent, especially in cases where a valued member of staff may need to reduce their working hours due to personal commitments.
It can also be a great opportunity for more experienced team members to gradually mentor their colleagues who are pursuing career development.
7. Term-time hours
As the name suggests, term-time working is centred around the school calendar. This flexible working style allows employees to only work during the school term and take planned time off work either as annual or unpaid leave in line with school holidays.
This is particularly useful for working parents who wish to spend more time with their family, giving them the option to work flexibly without having to worry about childcare arrangements.
8. Phased retirement
Phased retirement allows employees to ease into retirement at a gradual pace rather than completely halting work all at once. This might mean a progressive reduction in hours or days over a period of time or switching to part-time or seasonal hours.
Using phased retirement enables employers to better manage or reduce payroll whilst having a role covered by somebody experienced. Meanwhile, employees benefit from working less but still having regular payments without having to dip into their pension pot in one go.
What flexible working rights do employees currently have?
One of the major changes that the Labour government introduced in 2024 concerned workers’ rights to flexible working. Previously, UK employees could submit one flexible working request per year to their employer after working there for at least 26 weeks. They also had to explain how their flexible working arrangement, if accepted, would impact the business.
As of April 2024, however, all workers have the right to flexible working arrangements from day one. Additionally, they can make two requests per year rather than one. Employees are also no longer required to explain the business impact upon application.
Employers must answer all flexible working requests within 2 months (a reduced timeframe from 3 months), including any appeal processes.
If an employer approves a request, they must provide the staff member with a statement confirming the agreed arrangements and the flexible working start date.
Benefits of making flexible working a default
A statutory, day-one right to flexible working benefits both the employer and the employee in the following ways:
Benefits for employers
- Increased retention and a wider talent pool for recruiting
- Better employee engagement and loyalty
- Enhanced work performance
- Positive work culture
- A workforce in line with the business needs
- Greater diversity and inclusion
Benefits for employees
- Enhanced job satisfaction
- Better health
- Decreased chance of burnout
- Improved work-life balance
- Greater access to the job market
- Increased motivation and productivity
Thinking of replacing the 9-5 with flexible working?
Are you an advocate for flexible working? Is the traditional 9-5 a thing of the past? We’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts in the comments below.
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Please note that the information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or professional advice. While our aim is that the content is accurate and up to date, it should not be relied upon as a substitute for tailored advice from qualified professionals. We strongly recommend that you seek independent legal and tax advice specific to your circumstances before acting on any information contained in this article. We accept no responsibility or liability for any loss or damage that may result from your reliance on the information provided in this article. Use of the information contained in this article is entirely at your own risk.
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