Flexible and part time working

This article summarizes:

·         how flexible or part time working might benefit you and your employer

·         the different kinds of flexible and part time working

·         the legal framework.

A growing number of employers are introducing flexible working arrangements. A recent Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform survey indicated that flexible working opportunities benefit everyone - employers, employees and     their families.

What’s in it for you?

You may be interested in flexible working because you have:

·         child care or other caring responsibilities

·         education or training needs

·         health or mental health issues or a special need

·         travel to work or transport issues.

Flexible working could help you to take better control of your working life, improve your quality of life and/or adapt to approaching retirement.

What’s in it for your employer?

Staff are an organisation’s most valuable and often most expensive asset. Good work life balance usually means happier employees who are less likely to look for work elsewhere. Employers can:

·        raise staff morale and  reduce recruitment and training costs

·         extend business hours, use resources more efficiently and react more quickly to changes in market conditions

·         give customers better service

·         react to the changing labour market, recruiting a broader range of staff: older people, women, carers, disabled people or those with special needs.

Employers also see results such as:

·         better productivity 

·         more satisfied clients and customers, enhancing the company reputation

·         higher quality recruits,  happy staff, less likely to be sick and stressed. 

Flexible working conditions can include:

• Part time working - a cut in the number of hours worked in a day, or days worked in a week - this also means a cut in pay and holiday entitlement.
• Job sharing - two people share the hours, pay and holidays of a full time post. (See the article on Job sharing).
• Shift working – pattern of work covers more than the normal 8 hour working day - may cover 24 hours a day. 
• Shift swapping - staff agree shifts amongst themselves.
• Self rostering - as far as possible, shift patterns match staff preferences. 
• Flexitime – you can vary start times, finish times and lunch breaks, as long as you work an agreed number of hours in a set period. You may have to work 'core' hours and may be able to build up extra hours to take as time off in lieu (TOIL).
• Staggered hours – a variation on flexitime: start and finish your day to work two short shifts a day, or six short shifts a week instead of five normal ones.
• Compressed hours - another variation on flexitime: work your agreed hours over a shorter time - perhaps four long days instead of five normal ones, or a nine day fortnight instead of ten.  
• Time account - work extra time when needed (or perhaps when you want to) and save up days to use when you need them - maybe during the school holidays - there are usually limits as to how many days you can build up, or how long you can 'hold' them. 
• Annualised hours – work a set number of hours over a year, doing longer hours in busy periods and shorter hours when it is quiet.
• School hours working – so you can drop children off before work and pick them up afterwards.
• Term time working – take unpaid leave during school holidays - your employer may spread your pay over the year so that you have money coming in over the holidays.
• Zero hours – your contract is for a basic working time of zero hours, but your employer can call on you any time - this gives your employer a lot of flexibility, but does not guarantee you regular work or a regular income.
• Career break – a period of unpaid absence for studying or personal development - your employer need not legally keep your job open for you.
• V time – voluntary reduced work time – reduce your working hours and pay temporarily, for a set period, normally six to twelve months.
• Home or remote working, or tele-working - you work mainly at home - new technologies are making more opportunities for this.
• Phased retirement - working fewer hours (or days) per week in the run-up to retirement, to help you adjust to your 'new' life.

In some industries, these flexible systems are well established - about a third of UK employees work outside 9am-5pm. But staff now have more control over their work pattern. 

The law

You have no absolute legal right to work part time or to job share. However, some employees now have a statutory right to request flexible working conditions (not to have flexible working conditions). This right covers hours of work, times of working and place of work.

You can ask for flexible working conditions if you have worked for your employer for 26 weeks and:  

• you are responsible for bringing up a child or children aged 16 or under or a disabled child under 18 and you need more time to care for them
• you are the carer of a spouse, partner, civil partner, relative or someone who lives at the same address as you do, and you need more time to care for them.   

Whether you work part time or full time, you have a range of employee rights which are summarized in the following articles: Your basic rights at work, Job Sharing, Work Life Balance, and Dealing with Discrimination.

Useful websites

Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR): http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS): http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1616  
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (formerly Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, BERR)
Web: http://www.bis.gov.uk/ Former Web: http://www.berr.gov.uk/ will continue to operate for some time
Direct Gov: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/index.htm
Trades Union Congress (TUC): www.tuc.org.uk/work_life/      
Working Families: http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk 
Flexibility: http://www.flexibility.co.uk 
Slivers of Time - a body supported by the government, promoting an ultra-flexible way of working: http://www.sliversoftime.com/ and http://www.sliversoftime.info/  (no developments in Scotland at present, but this may come).