Menu

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

·         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

·         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 is likely to mean happier employees who are therefore less likely to look for work elsewhere. This allows employers to:

 

·         cut down on recruitment and training costs

·         raise staff morale

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

·         give their customers better service

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

 

In turn, the employer sees results such as:

 

·         productivity rises

·         more satisfied clients and customers

·         enhanced 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. Remember that this also means a cut in pay and holiday entitlement.
  • Job sharing - two people split between them the hours, pay and holidays of a full time post. (See the article on Job sharing).
  • Shift working – your pattern of work changes to fit a service or operation which is offered outside the traditional eight hour working day. Shifts may cover 24 hours a day. 
  • Shift swapping - rather than working the same shift all the time, or shifts being decided by the employer, staff agree working times and shifts amongst themselves.
  • Self rostering – shift patterns are adjusted to match as closely as possible to staff preferences.    
  • Flexitime – usually allows you to vary your start times, finish times and lunch breaks, so long as you work an agreed number of hours within a set period. You may have to work certain 'core' hours. Sometimes you can build up extra hours and take them as time off in lieu (TOIL).
  • Staggered hours – a variation on flexitime: you start and finish your day at different times, working two short shifts a day, or six short shifts per week instead of five normal ones.
  • Compressed hours - another variation on flexitime: you work your agreed number of hours over a shorter time period, for example you may work four long days instead of five normal ones, or do a nine day fortnight instead of ten.  
  • Time account - you work extra time when needed (or possibly when you want to) and save up days to use when you need them - perhaps more time off 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 – you work a set number of hours across a year, but work longer hours during rush periods and shorter hours when it is quiet.
  • School hours working – you can drop the children off before work and pick them up afterwards.
  • Term time working – you can take unpaid leave during school holidays. Sometimes the employer can spread your pay over the year so that you still have money coming in over the holidays.
  • Zero hours – you have a contract for a basic working time of zero hours, but your employer can call on you at any time. This gives your employer a lot of flexibility, but it does not guarantee you either regular work or a regular or fixed salary.
  • Career break – a period of unpaid absence which you can use for studying or personal development. Your employer need not legally keep your job open for you.
  • V time – voluntary reduced work time – you reduce your working hours and pay temporarily, for a set period of time, normally six to twelve months.
  • Home or remote working, or tele-working - your main place of work is your home. (See the article on Home based working). As technologies develop, there are more opportunities for this.
  • Phased retirement - working fewer hours (or days) per week in the run-up to retirement, to give you a chance to adjust to your 'new' life.

In some industries, these flexible systems are long-established. A recent survey from the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that a third of British employees worked at least part of their shifts outside the hours of 9am to 5 pm. The difference now is that staff have more control in choosing a suitable work pattern.

 

 

The law

You have no absolute legal right to work part time or to job share. However, certain 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
  • place of work.

Since April 2007, you can ask for flexible working conditions if:  

  • you are responsible for bringing up a child or children under 6 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 or relative, or someone who lives at the same address as you do, and you need more time to care for them.  

You must normally have worked for your employer for 26 weeks.

 

The Government announced in May 2008 that it would extend the right to ask for flexible working to those with children aged 16 and under. There is currently a consultation process about this change.

 

In these cases, your employer must seriously consider your request and discuss it with you. See the article on Family friendly law for further details.

 

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/
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) http://www.berr.gov.uk/
Directgov - Public Services all in one Place: http://www.direct.gov.uk/
Trades Union Congress (TUC): www.tuc.org.uk/work_life/  
http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk  - information and advice for working families and their employers
http://www.flexibility.co.uk - information and resources on new ways of working

Slivers of Time - a body supported by the government, promoting a new ultra-flexible way of working:
http://www.sliversoftime.com/ and
http://www.sliversoftime.info/
(at present there are no developments in Scotland, but this may come).