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Daniela Cohen

Making Flexible Working Work

Daniela Cohen

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The sixty-four million dollar question

If your business operates during certain hours, how can it engage employees who are not necessarily available when the business might need them?

This dilemma is one which has been thrust into the forefront of many employers' minds given the Government's recent expansion of family related rights in the workplace, and its intention to continue to legislate in this area.

The right to request and shared parental leave

From next year, the right to request flexible working will be extended to all employees with at least 26 weeks' continuous employment, without the current requisite of being a carer or a parent.

In addition, the Government intends to introduce shared parental leave in 2015, enabling parents to share up to 50 weeks of the current maternity leave period. Once shared parental leave comes into effect, it will enable parents to alternate leave between them in small, successive chunks, which has been criticised as being an added burden, particularly for smaller businesses.

Balancing business needs

Often seemingly impossible to reconcile, it can be tricky to balance business needs with the various commitments of its working population's day to day lives, particularly childcare arrangements.

Examining the issue with tunnel vision is dangerous for any employer and not just because of the potential employment litigation which may follow. The real danger is the loss of productivity (and yes, ultimately profitability) that can stem from shoe-horning employees into rigid working patterns, which may hinder their capacity to undertake their duties successfully.

A two way process

A common misconception is that flexible working is an employee benefit/right and employers often lose sight of the fact it is a two way process.

The essence of flexible working is about supporting individuals to do their job effectively, taking into account the other commitments present in their everyday lives. Stressed/unhappy employees invariably are not productive.

Flexible working can take many forms, and includes job sharing, working from home, flexi-time as well as staggered and compressed hours and therefore doesn't equate only to "part-time" working in the traditional sense.

Take an holistic approach

When considering bespoke flexible working patterns for an employee, it is vital that a business takes a holistic approach. Naturally, this will include taking into account the impact, if any, on any affected client/customer relationships, the staff connected to the employee and any consequential effect on the social dynamics of the business or team.

Flexible working factors to consider

Factoring in all the above, to the extent an employer can allow an employee who requests it, to work flexibly this is a route which should be considered, for numerous reasons:

The evolving world

The majority of the working population can access all the information they require to perform their roles (and therefore to do their jobs well) from their laptops, Smartphone, iPads and all the other work-facilitating technology. Yet 21.8 million people in the UK go into the office daily and work at their desks from 9am to 5pm.

The 9-5

Working 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, has become entrenched as a working pattern and rarely is questioned. Working flexibly is clearly desirable to many employees and indeed two-thirds of politicians believe that employees having the option to work this way could provide a major boost to the economy.

Are employers missing a trick by dismissing the notion of flexibility as a drain rather than a step towards increased productivity?

With the law moving towards greater flexibility, this is a concept that employers will need to get to grips with. Being comfortable with flexible working sooner rather than later, will give businesses the competitive edge, especially when the legal changes come into effect.

Retention of talent

At the root of most family related legislation is the fact that approximately half the UK workforce is female and women have children; a fact which cannot be ignored.

It is common that on returning to the workplace post a period of maternity leave, women may wish to work flexibly, at least for some time, in order to deal with their new responsibilities. If an employer closes its mind to the possibility, it risks alienating, and ultimately losing a proportion of its female employees. That said, this doesn't mean employers must agree to any and all flexible working requests but must of course have regard to and prioritise the needs of the business.

Offering an employee who has made a request to work flexibly, the opportunity to trial a new working pattern, is often a useful way for both parties to gage if the arrangement will work. This takes the form of a contractual agreement.

Where trials are used, it is imperative that an end-date is set early on and the lines of communication are as open as possible, ensuring that the business communicates how things are progressing from its perspective. The problems we see occur in instances where trials are allowed to run on, without being monitored or reviewed. At the conclusion of a trial period, the employer should give the employee its decision and feed back what did and didn't work and why. If and where issues arise these should be documented clearly. Being open and clear sounds simple but it so often is the key to protecting relationships.

It is worth noting that 57% of female entrepreneurs stated that flexibility to set their own pace of life was the primary reason for starting their own businesses. Wouldn't it be great if as a business you could channel that drive and push it into your economical success?

We live in a society constantly adapting and changing and we are now starting to see the first signs that men also want to work flexibly to factor in childcare responsibilities.

The law is evolving, enabling men to partake in longer periods of paternity leave and parental leave. If an employer denies its collective staff the opportunity to work flexibly, it risks ignoring the cultural changes taking place around it and, as a result, losing talent. Losing staff you wish to retain is bad enough, but when you factor in the cost of recruitment, training, customer goodwill, not to mention the organisation's reputation, the ramifications can be wide-reaching.

Cost saving

With the development of modern technology, it can be a smart economical move to have your staff operating remotely or part-time.  Indeed, many small to medium businesses elect to have all or part of their work force working from home at least part of the time, which clearly helps the business in terms of reduced overhead costs, particularly salary.

During the height of the recession in 2008, many organisations were faced with the need to cut costs quickly. Rather than the obvious solution to reduce headcount, some businesses looked at smarter alternatives, including encouraging unpaid sabbaticals and part-time working. There are significant cost savings to be made by allowing employees to reduce their hours, which may give a business the best of both worlds as it also allows an organisation to retain talent, whilst managing costs.

Engaged employee = effective employee

Engagement is a two-way street. In order to get the best out of an employee, an employer needs to demonstrate that it values the individual and understands their needs.

Most employees respond well to the perception that their well-being is important to their employer. In return, an employee who feels 'looked after' is more likely to work hard, be committed and loyal to an organisation, which in turn manifests itself in the businesses' overall productivity.

Of course, flexible working is not always viable

Where an employee's flexible working request will not work in an employer's business model, employers are entitled (and legally so) to refuse that request.

That is where careful communication is key. Rather than simply denying a request, an employer should seek to offer a more realistic counter proposal. For example, if an employee returning from maternity leave requests to work from home on certain days an employer may agree to the request on the condition that the employee has alternative childcare arrangements on those days, ensuring the employee has capacity to undertake their work.

Engaging in dialogue with the employee as to their individual needs and the business needs helps ensure that the employee feels valued and looked after whilst ultimately securing an agreement which is realistic for the business.

Implementing a flexible working pattern which suits the business is not easy

It requires careful planning, consideration and probably above all, thoughtful communication. However, times are changing and employers should embrace the opportunity to follow the lead of the law in adapting traditional working patterns where it is required.

Many, including our elected members of Parliament believe this will deliver a much needed boost to our economy.

Changing an organisation's psyche is not an easy process and it is bound to be met with criticism and objection. However we believe there are benefits to be had for all.

Daniela Cohen, Sheridans Employment Group

 

About Sheridans Employment Group


The specialist Employment Group at London law firm Sheridans, has a wealth of experience, across numerous different industries. Whatever the sector, clients use Sheridans' employment law services because of the team's direct but personable approach to handling situations involving people and change. The Sheridans' Employment Group is well equipped at providing high calibre support throughout the entire employment lifecycle.

For over 50 years, Sheridans' lawyers have represented individuals and organisations across a wide range of businesses, particularly in the leisure, media and entertainments sectors, whether they are just starting out, or an established organisation.

For more information contact Daniela Cohen or Neisha Glynternick.

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