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 to make it a legal right for all UK workers, irrespective of their employment circumstances.
And under new government legislation announced in December, millions of employees are about to have a greater say in when, where, and how they work from day one of their employment.
In this blog, we’ll explore what flexible working is, what its main benefits are, and everything you need to know as an employer about the flexible working rights coming into force this year.
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, flexi-time, 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 well-being, while still meeting the needs of the employer.
What flexible ways of working exist?
Over recent years, a variety of ways to work flexibly have emerged. These typically include:
Remote working
Perhaps the most popular form of flexible working, working from home/remote working has gained increasing feasibility in recent years as a result of technological advancements and the pandemic, which left many companies and teams with little choice but to work remotely.
With the progression of cloud-based systems and more of us going online for products or services, many job roles can now be done effectively from home, while businesses can thrive with an online presence alone, leaving companies without the need for a traditional office space.
Countless studies have linked working from home with a boost in productivity, while at the same time, employers can gain significant cost savings with lower overheads and operational fees required.
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, working 40 hours over four days instead of five.
There is no single way of applying compressed hours.
An employee could rearrange their working hours in a range of ways to either shorten specific days, i.e. by staying an hour extra each day to have a half-day on a specific weekday. Or, cut down their workweek as a whole to extend their weekend.
The goal of compressed hours is to provide staff with longer periods of time off, and enable a better work-life balance.
Four-day work week
The four-day workweek is an arrangement in which employees work four days (typically Monday-Thursday) and enjoy a three-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 well-being, whilst also benefiting from social, economic, and environmental improvements.
More and more businesses are recognising its potential to attract and retain talent, with research linking the four-day week to higher levels of productivity, enhanced mental health, and improved job satisfaction.
Flexi-time
Flexi-time gives employees the freedom to work their contracted hours in a timeframe that suits them, which can be outside the typical office hours of 9-5. For example, an employee may start their shift an hour earlier in order to finish an hour earlier that day.
Limitations are usually put in place by the employer to ensure teams are reachable during peak hours of the work day, but staff members are able to achieve more control over their work-life balance and personal needs.
The aim of flexi-time is to increase retention and boost productivity, as staff are able to work at times that are most convenient for them, allowing them to more freely fit around family commitments, appointments or hobbies.
Job sharing
Job sharing is when two, or sometimes more, employees share the responsibilities of a full-time role and agree on the hours between them.
Hours might vary so that they work together some parts of the week, or the setup may mean that they never cross over work schedules together.
Job sharing comes in two different forms:
- The ‘twins model’ – where employees work together to complete the same projects.
- The ‘island model’ – where 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 childcare or other commitments.
It can also be a great opportunity for more experienced members of the team to gradually mentor other members of staff who are pursuing career development.
Term-time hours
As the name suggests, term-time working is centred around the school calendar, so that employees only work during the school term, and take planned periods of time off work either as annual leave 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.
Hybrid working
Hybrid working has also become particularly widespread as a result of the pandemic, an ideal compromise between the remote lifestyle and office perks.
The hybrid model allows people to split their time between a fixed office location and working from home or a remote location. 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 may have set days when they need to attend the office for specific reasons, such as collaborative projects or meetings.
They might be given an allocated number of days at which they can work remotely, or they may have complete freedom to choose as and when they work from the office.
Phased retirement
Phased retirement allows employees to ease into retired life 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 over to part-time or seasonal hours.
Using phased retirement enables employers to better manage or reduce payroll, whilst still having a role covered by somebody experienced. Employees benefit from working less but still having regular payments, without having to dip into their pension pot in one go.
The demand for flexible working
While there have clearly been significant increases in flexible working in recent years, research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found almost half of UK workers did not have access to any form of flexible working.
As a result, the Flex From 1st Campaign was set up, aiming to make flexible working a day-one right for all UK employees.
In December of last year, the Government responded and said it would make changes to the rules around flexible working.
What flexible working rights do employees currently have?
At the moment, employees in the UK have the right to make a request to work flexibly, if:
- They have worked for their employer continuously for 26 weeks or longer
- They have not made a request within the last 12 months
Following 26 weeks of employment, one statutory request for flexible working can be made every 12 months, although there is a vast scope for rejection and no current right to appeal.
When a flexible working request is made, employees need to produce a written statement for their employer explaining how their proposed working arrangements may impact their role and colleagues, and suggest how any changes might be handled. They also need to specify why they are making the request.
What happens when an employee makes a flexible working request?
As an employer, you must respond to an employee’s flexible working request by:
- Considering any requests fairly
- Making a decision within a maximum of 3 months, and consulting the employee about the decision you have reached
Some employers may already have their own flexible working policies in place, allowing employees to work flexibly or to make a flexible working request sooner than the current legal entitlement of 26 weeks – in which case, employees should be informed upon starting work with the employer.
Regardless of whether or not you have a workplace policy in place for flexible working or not, all employees are entitled to make one request each year. But that is about to change.
The new flexible working rights
Following the recent consultation on making flexible working the default, the Government has committed to taking forward a series of measures to improve the current statutory rights.
Not only will the 26-week qualifying period be removed, giving staff the ability to request flexible working from day one, but the process involved when making such requests will be eased, in a bid to open up the dialogue about flexible working options between employees and their employers.
Employees will no longer be required to explain their request or its potential impact on the business in a written statement.
Employers will now have a shorter timeframe of two months to provide a response to any requests made, and must consult with the employee if they intend to reject a request, explaining why.
Workers have also been allocated an updated allowance of two statutory requests in any 12-month period as opposed to the current one.
What are the main benefits of making flexible working a day-one right?
The CIPD has found a number of benefits for introducing flexible working request from an employee’s first day of employment rather than 26 weeks later, for both employers and employees, including:
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
Wrapping up
The changes have been recognised as an important step and an improvement to the current situation. However, campaigners have said the proposals still need to go much further, arguing that they still enable employers to freely reject flexible working requests and don’t do enough to encourage the normalisation of flexible working.
We don’t think this is the last we will hear on flexible working rights, so we’ll be sure to update you once the changes come into play later this year and keep you posted on any further announcements.
Thanks for reading
What do you think? 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.