Flexible working patterns have become common in recent years. This has been a result of both employee requests to amend working hours, in order to achieve a better balance between their work and home life; and also employers efforts to meet the needs of their customer and staff. Within the UK, all employees who have worked for their employer for 26 weeks continuously can request that a change to their working hours be given consideration. My colleague Lindsey McLeod provides an insight below:
Flexible working is something that you may want to consider when looking at your career planning. A great resource to understand what rights you have when it comes to Flexible Working is the ACAS website which gives a detailed breakdown of policies and processes involved in flexible working.
The benefits of flexible working are often talked about, achieving a better work/life balance, more efficient working whilst carrying out your employee duties but there are also arguments to the contrary, such as the pressures to deliver more in a shorter time that some flexible workers place on themselves. Often flexible working is associated with mothers returning to work, but flexible working isn’t aimed at solely this demographic. Working Families.org aim to increase the visibility and viability of flexible working for all. A particular focus they have this year in Scotland is increasing the potential for flexible working for Fathers, in the Year of the Dad. They recently held their Awards on the 10th March for the best Flexible Working employers. Check out their upcoming National Work Life Week campaign.
It is worth speaking to your Line Manager and HR department, or checking the wording of a job advertisement if you aren’t currently employed, to establish where and how flexible working could be incorporated into your place of work. Look out for this logo:
