As the nation began returning to work after lockdown, there have been calls for employers to make flexible working a standard option for employees. Paul Burton, Head of Employment at Frettens, discusses the implications of flexible working for employees and employers.
What is flexible working?
Flexible working describes non-traditional working patterns that suit an employee’s needs, for example; hours which accommodate childcare responsibilities.
All employees have the right to request flexible working via a formal application. To be classed as an ’employee’, you must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks.
The minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, has asked employers to make flexible working a standard option for employees.
What are the advantages of flexible working for employees?
Liz Truss believes this step would boost both productivity and morale and improve employment prospects for women – who are twice as likely to work flexibly while they juggle childcare responsibilities – as well as those who don’t live close to big cities.
The Government Equalities Office has published a report, ‘Encouraging employers to advertise jobs as flexible’, by the Behavioural Insights Team and the jobs website Indeed. The report said that job applications increase by 30 per cent when flexible working is offered.
How to implement flexible working
Some employers are already trying to harness some of the positive effects that the pandemic has had on work patterns. PWC is one of the businesses embracing this. They announced in March that employees can work from home a couple of days a week and start as early or late as they like, giving staff much more control over their work.
They have said that staff can condense their hours and knock off early on Fridays this summer, as a nod to the testing times everyone has had to overcome. Chairman Kevin Ellis has said he hopes that the changes make flexible working the norm rather than the exception. He wants staff to feel trusted and empowered.
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