How employers can make arrangements for flexible working

Flexible working

84% of UK workers would like flexible working and 28% would change jobs for one that offered remote working according to Totaljobs research.

What is flexible working?

Flexible working is a working pattern that differs from the traditional 9-5 office-based schedule. Flexible working takes into account an employee’s needs outside of work, such as family commitments.

What is a flexible working contract?

A flexible working contract is a formal agreement between a company and employee which outlines the employee’s agreed working hours and location.

Many companies now offer flexitime which specifies the “core hours” where all employees must be in the office. For example, 10 am – 4 pm are popular core hours and employees can shift their hours outside of this timeframe, choosing to work 9 am – 5 pm or 10 am – 6 pm.

A flexible working contract should include the hours of work, place of work, annual leave, sick pay and parental leave entitlement.

What are flexible working hours?

Aside from flexitime schemes, there are various types of flexible working hours.

Flexible working by reducing hours at work

• Part time hours. Where employees reduce their contracted hours, for example working only mornings or set days.
• Staggered hours. An evolution of flexitime, this is where employees might wish to start earlier or finish later. For example, 7am-3pm.
• Compressed hours. Where an employee works longer hours on set days to work fewer days overall.
• Return to work. After maternity leave, new mums may request to work reduced hours temporarily.

Flexible working by location and method of working

• Working from home. Where employees can work from home for one or more days a week.
• Remote working. Where employees are completely remote and not required to be in the office.
• Smart working. More companies are taking advantage of new technology to have all employees working remotely, with no central office.

Who can apply for flexible working?

All employees in the UK are legally entitled to request flexible working arrangements.

When an employee requests flexible working, it is known as “making a statutory application.” To be eligible, an employee must have worked for their employer continuously for at least 26 weeks.

What are the pros and cons of flexible working for a business?

What are the benefits of flexible working?

Flexible working is important because it can significantly improve morale and productivity with 73% of managers believing their team would be more productive with an early finish according to Totaljobs research.

The benefits to employers include:

• Reduced turnover. Empowering your staff with the ability to choose where and when they work strengthens their loyalty.
• Increased productivity. Stress and long hours in the workplace leads to reduced efficiency and an increase in absence as outlined in this article from Forbes. Flexible working alleviates work-related stress by allowing employees to enjoy a better work/life balance.
• Improved morale. Giving employees influence over their work schedules makes them happier, more engaged and more motivated during their time at work.
• Positive company image. Offering flexible working, having a happier workforce and good employee retention all make your company a desirable place to work. That means when you do have a new role to recruit for, you will attract high calibre candidates.

What are the difficulties of flexible working?

There are, of course, potential difficulties posed by flexible working, particularly when it comes to working at home.

Remote working does not suit everyone. Some employees will thrive with greater independence while some require more structure and you may find they are not as productive without supervision.

If your company regularly has internal briefings and client meetings, working out a time when everyone can attend may be a challenge with part-time or remote workers. More forward-planning will be required to coordinate schedules.

Also, be aware of potential discontent among employees when it comes to which teams are granted flexible working. Your company may need some jobs to be done during regular hours and from the office, while others will be easier to adapt to a different working pattern.

Always be consistent when reviewing applications so employees do not feel they are being treated unfairly.

What are employees’ legal rights?

What are workers’ rights on flexible working in the UK?

Any employee can apply for flexible working – not just parents and carers.

In addition to needing to have worked for their employer for 26 continuous weeks, only legal employees can make a request (this excludes the self-employed).

Employees can request any of the types of flexible working outlined above. They can ask for those arrangements to apply to all workdays, certain periods – such as school term time, or for a set period.

An employee cannot make another request for flexible working if they have already made one in the last 12 months.

Employers may worry about where they stand with requests for compressed hours. In the UK, the average working week should not exceed 48 hours. When an employee works those hours is to be agreed with their employer so working for longer on certain days is legal.

Be mindful that employees are entitled to a rest period of 11 hours in every 24 hours so do not agree to compressed hours that would violate this.

Flexible working toolkit

There are arrangements you can make to effectively implement flexible and home working in your organisation.

Flexible working policies

Develop a flexible working policy that is included in staff contracts and your company’s employee handbook so everyone in the organisation is clear about what is available.

In your policy, include information on how employees must submit their request and the timeframe within which it will be reviewed. (This should be within three months of when the request was made unless a longer timeframe is agreed with the employee.)

It can be helpful to look at flexible working policy examples to ensure you have covered everything.

How to calculate flexible working hours

With employees working different hours, it can be difficult to keep track of who is in the office when and holiday entitlement.

If you are implementing flexitime across your organisation, it might be helpful to use a centralised timesheet so you can keep track of the hours worked. Download this flexitime spreadsheet example from the University of Leicester to get started.

How to implement flexible working

To successfully implement flexible working, there are several things to consider:

• Make employees’ hours of work clear. Confirm all flexible working arrangements in writing so everyone knows when and from where they are working.
• Support line managers. Provide guidance and training to those with direct reports to effectively manage any remote workers in their team.
• Outline a process. Decide how remote workers will communicate with the office team. For example, email, phone, instant messaging, video conferencing or a combination of these.
• Outline expectations. Agree with remote employees how often contact is required. Do you want a daily or weekly update, or should they be in touch as and when they have questions or information to share?
• Invest in software. Decide which equipment your remote team needs to carry out their work, such as a company laptop or phone.
• Conduct a trial. Pilot new ideas before committing to them so you can see which ways of working are best for your organisation.

How to monitor flexible working hours

Over a quarter of employees see the agreement to work from home as a sign of trust from their boss so you want to strike the right balance between regular communication and micromanaging.

Find a system that best suits your organisation. Using a sprint board where each team member lists their tasks for the week and ticks them off as they are completed is one option. This provides managers with visibility of what work is being completed and whether deadlines are being met, without employees feeling like they are not trusted.

How to manage flexible working requests

Ask your employees to put their flexible working requests in writing to include the date of the request, the changes they would like and when they would like them to start.

It is a good idea to have a meeting with your employee to talk through the reasons for their request and any potential problems it might pose for the company to see if you can find a solution.

Give careful and equal consideration to each request.

Refusing flexible working requests

Employers are not obliged to say yes to every request but be aware that if you do decline, employees have the right to appeal so always provide justification.

The following are justifiable reasons to decline a request as outlined on gov.uk:

• Extra costs that will damage the business
• The work cannot be reorganised among other staff
• People cannot be recruited to do the work
• Flexible working will affect quality and performance
• The business will not be able to meet customer demand
• There is a lack of work to do during the proposed working times
• The business is planning changes to the workforce

For more advice, download the Acas guide to handling requests.

Working from home tips

Working from home tips for your team

Remote working is one of the most important company benefits for 19% of employees so it is beneficial to take the time to set up efficient work from home practices for your team.

To support your employees in making the transition from office to remote working, it can be helpful to provide them with tips on effective home working, including:

• Starting and finishing work at the same time each day.
• Setting up a dedicated workspace, whether it is a home office or the dining table.
• Health and safety guidance on how to correctly set up their work station.
• Getting dressed each morning as if they were going to the office to create separation between work and home.
• Taking regular breaks as in the office and do not skip lunch. (Read more about how taking a lunch break can boost productivity.)

Supporting parents working from home

Working from home can be a great help to parents with young children, particularly new parents, helping them to reduce childcare costs and spend more time with their children.

Juggling work and parenthood is not easy so be understanding, especially when it comes to new parents with a baby in the house. If they need to occasionally end a call early to calm a toddler tantrum, let them know this doesn’t impact how they’re perceived by the business.

Reassure your employees with children that you want to support them and they will be more open in coming forward with any challenges they may be facing.

Is remote working the future?

Remote working has been on the rise in recent years but Covid-19 lockdown measures have made it more widespread than ever before and we can expect to see more companies adopting remote working long term.

Employees who never considered working from home before may realise they prefer it so employers can anticipate an increase in remote working requests moving forward.