Working Families (www.workingfamilies.org.uk) has been standing up for working parents and carers for 45 years. From their beginnings around a kitchen table in the 1970s, they have evolved into a national charity, campaigning for family-friendly policies and empowering parents and carers. Today, they bring about change by offering free legal advice to parents and carers, providing guidance to employers, and influencing key legislation including the recent Flexible Working Act.
Here, Working Families CEO, Jane van Zyl, talks about flexible working – what it really means, how it can improve the health and wellbeing of adoptive parents and carers, what to ask for and your rights.
Why flex?
With four decades of experience, we have long recognised the benefits of flexible working to both employee and employer. It enhances wellbeing which goes hand in hand with a boost in performance and productivity. We believe that, with the right policies, practice and culture, everyone can thrive in family-friendly workplaces.
Find the right flex for you
Flexible working isn’t a one size-fits all. Although it has become shorthand for remote or hybrid working, flexible working comes in all shapes and sizes.
- reducing your hours to work part-time
- changing your start and finish times
- having flexibility with your start and finish time (sometimes known as ‘flexitime’)
- doing your hours over fewer days (‘compressed hours’)
- working from home or elsewhere (‘remote working’)
- sharing the job with someone else (‘job share’)
- deciding shifts as a team (‘employee self-rostering’)
- swopping allocated shifts ad hoc (‘shift swopping’)
- working with an allocated buddy to alternate shift patterns (‘split team’)
The great thing about flexible working is that you can always find a type to fit your role. Once you start thinking that your role is made up of different tasks, there is often an element of flexibility in when and how we can complete those tasks. The best solution is one that is tailored to both your needs, and the needs of your employer.
Your rights
The Flexible Working Act that came into effect this year means the rights of employees to request flexible working have changed. You can now:
- Formally request a flexible working arrangement from the first day in a job.
- Make two formal (known as statutory) requests per year.
- Receive a decision from your employer within two months, in which time your employer must consider your request, consult with you if unable to accept the request, and notify you of the outcome.
- Submit a request without being required to explain how the arrangement will work, although it may help your case to do so.
- Expect that your employer will consult with you if they intend on rejecting your request. This should open up a dialogue between you that will hopefully lead to a better outcome.
How to ask
Do the groundwork
- Put yourself in the strongest position by putting forward a good case. This involves some preparation:
- If it’s possible, initiate an informal conversation to test the water, this way you may identify any barriers that you can then address in your formal application.
- Research similar jobs to your own that are done flexibly, which can both demonstrate feasibility and give you ideas of how it can work in practice.
- Is anyone in your organisation working flexibly, or submitted an unsuccessful request? Utilising information on what has worked, and what hasn’t, will strengthen your case.
- Anticipate the issues that might arise in your role when working flexibly and offer solutions as to how these can be overcome.
- Suggest a trial period, where both you and your employer can see how the arrangement works in practice and make adjustments.
Make it official
When you come to submit a formal written request, make sure it meets the legal requirements – you can read these here or even use our templated letter. Once you’ve made a request your employer may want to meet with you to discuss, either on the phone or face to face, and for this you can be accompanied by a colleague. Approach the meeting with a solutions mindset and be prepared to negotiate. Focus on what you’d like to get out of the meeting and what would be the next best alternative. Aim high, but be ready to compromise.
After the request
An employer can only refuse a request for the permitted business reasons. If your employer has declined the request but breached these conditions, you may want to take further action, including an appeal, raising a grievance or a tribunal.
Take a flexible approach
Whatever option you settle on, don’t be afraid to experiment. All flexible arrangements take adjustment, and sometimes you won’t get things right from the off. It’s ok to admit if something isn’t working and make changes, because it’s only when flexibility is working for you, that you and your employer will see the benefits.
By Jane van Zyl, CEO, Working Families
