Flexible working: dream or reality?

The message about flexible working is also changing. It’s not necessarily about being able to work from home. Let’s face it – the majority of jobs are not office-based and require people to be present in the workplace because they’re a doctor, a grounds keeper, a factory worker or a train driver. Flexible working is about being more flexible in the way that jobs are advertised and in the way that people fulfil their working commitments – could a job be shared? Could it offer compressed or core hours? Could shift patterns be adjusted? 

Change is afoot

I spoke to Anna Whitehouse, founder of Mother Pukka, who launched Flex Appeal after her employer denied her flexible working request. She asked to adjust her hours by 15 minutes at the beginning and end of the day, but this was denied on the basis that it would ‘open the floodgates’ to other requests. 

“In that quite human moment of frustration and anger I questioned why we can’t open these floodgates? What is the fear? People are drowning behind these floodgates,” says Whitehouse.

That was the moment that Flex Appeal was born, and from this stemmed the Flex for All coalition of like-minded individuals and organisations including the Fawcett Society, Pregnant then Screwed, the Young Women’s Trust, the Fatherhood Institute and the TUC. 

“There’s a whole group of us bringing together all of the voices within the flexible working realm who not just believe it works but know it works,” explains Whitehouse. “That’s why we brought the 10 minute Bill to Parliament with Helen Whately MP – the focus of it is to make flexible working available by default, to put the onus on the employer to prove that it cannot work.”

Current legislation around flexible working

Currently employees have a legal right to request flexible working after 26 weeks employment. Something that Whitehouse believes is completely wrong and makes employees feel as though they have to earn the right to flexibility.  

“This needs to be a fundamental shift in the way that we work – it has to be available from day one,” says Whitehouse. “You can’t have that awkward period in an interview where someone says yes we want you, but then you come back and say can I work in this particular way? And they say no, it’s only a full-time role regardless of the fact that that company has family-friendly flexible working policies plastered across its website. The gap between what’s being said and what’s being done is so huge that this is what we’re trying to bridge.”

She would like to see legislation change so that employers have to prove that a flexible working arrangement cannot work. She believes that employers need to be more creative in their approach to flexible working – there is not one job that can’t offer something. 

The impact of gender pay reporting

The arguments for flexible working have received a boost over the past couple of years thanks to introduction of gender pay gap reporting. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which has responsibility for holding employers to account over their gender pay gap reports, identified flexible working as a key way to narrow the gender pay gap in its Mind the Pay Gap report.

“The EHRC have pinpointed that [flexible working] is the solution,” says Whitehouse. “With Flex Appeal and the lobbying arm Flex for All it comes down to push and shove. Gender pay gap reporting is there and that’s the push. Flex for All is the shove. We hope to do it in a friendly way, but ultimately in a way that business can’t find loopholes and can’t side-step. 

“If you really care about closing your gender pay gap, then you will implement flexible working – the two are inextricably linked. Companies that can’t see that, won’t only be left behind, but it will have an impact on their bottom-line.”

This issue isn’t only relevant to gender pay gaps, but also to wider diversity and inclusion policies. With it looking likely that employers will be called upon to be more transparent in all areas of pay – including disability pay gaps – flexible working will be an important tool to fulfil their duties. And with links between diversity, inclusion and employee wellbeing becoming ever more defined, flexible working is an issue that cannot be ignored for much longer. 

Wider benefits

There are of course other benefits to offering flexible working. Other than helping to narrow pay gaps, improving inclusion and diversity and employee health, there are bottom line benefits. 

Whitehouse offers the example of BT who saved £100 million in office costs in just one year by making its staff eligible for flexible working. There are also other cost gains to be made in reduced sickness absence levels and higher productivity from staff who are perhaps less stressed working to hours that better suit their lifestyle.

Beyond these more tangible benefits of flexible working are the wider issues of the perception of an organisation. 

“The thing that companies aren’t getting is the huge impact that this has on consumer mindset towards your business,” says Whitehouse. “For example, Zurich Insurance has just done a huge overhaul of their parental policies – I switched because of how they’re operating.”

She argues that consumers are increasingly having a similar mindset around environmental issues and will buy products from companies that they believe are operating in a sustainable way. 

“That’s how people are buying now. This [flexible working] isn’t just something that you have to do for your internal HR policies, this is something that you have to do for the bigger picture.”

She adds: “It doesn’t matter really what your reason is for doing it [implementing flexible working], do it and the benefits will prove themselves.” 

Leading the way

Helen Whately’s 10 minute Bill has only had its first reading and is unlikely to become law in the immediate future. However, Whitehouse urges employers not to wait to be told to introduce flexible working, but to lead the way.

“We’re doing this for business, we’re not doing this for just people wanting to have better work/life balance, that’s a great side benefit, we’re doing this to help companies empower their staff and help companies be more productive and ultimately make more money.”

The author is Dawn Lewis, content editor at REBA.