What is flexible working?
Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employee’s needs, for example having flexible start and finish times, or working from home.
Common types of flexible working are:
Flexible working arrangements might include:
- changing from full-time to part-time work
- changing the part-time hours that you work, for example from weekends to weekdays
- changing working hours to fit in with, for example, school hours, college hours or care arrangements
- compressed hours, that is, working your usual hours in fewer days
- flexitime, which allows you to fit your working hours around agreed core times
- working from home or remotely for part or all of the time
- job sharing
- self-rostering, where your shift pattern is drawn up to match your prefered times as closely as possible
- shift working
- staggered hours, which allow you to start and finish your days at different times
- time off in lieu
- annualised hours, where your working time is organised around the number of hours to be worked over a year rather than over a week
- term-time work, so you don’t work during the school holidays
How to request flexible working patterns:
All employees have the legal right to request flexible working – not just parents and carers.
This is known as ‘making a statutory application’.
Employees must have worked for the same employer for at least 26 weeks to be eligible.
Other Helpful Links:
Updated 24/08/2021