Flexible working is a key support tool in many SMEs, especially where more costly benefits, such as enhanced parental leave and pay or subsidised childcare are not available. It helps boost staff motivation, productivity and wellbeing, and retain experienced and skilled employees. For parents and caregivers, flexible working can be a much-needed and highly valued way to better manage the demands of work and family responsibilities. In some cases, flexibility is a lifeline, making continued employment possible and sustainable.[THIS IS A TEST FROM ERICKA’S ADMIN ACCESS]
Flexible working can take many forms, ranging from informal, occasional adjustments to formal or long-term arrangements. It may involve changes to how long (working hours), when (start and finish times) or where (location) employees work (see Different Types of Flexible Working – link to section below). Informal flexibility is often used to respond to unexpected situations, such as leaving work early to pick up a sick child from childcare. In contrast, formal flexibility usually involves a written request and a longer-term arrangement. The key to successful flexible working is that the arrangements meet the needs of both the employer and employee (see Life Course Approach).
Did you know? All employees can now make a formal request for flexible working arrangements from the first day of their job. You can find out more about this right here.
Different types of flexible working
- Flexible hours – adjusted start and finish times
- Remote or hybrid working – allow employees to work remotely for part or all of their contracted hours
- Compressed hours –working the same number of hours on fewer days
- Job sharing – splitting one role between two employees
- Part-time working – reducing contracted working hours
- Term-time only working – available employment during school terms
- Flexi-time – working the same number of hours according to the employee’s schedule (working agreed hours within a flexible schedule or allowing employees to create their own schedules while fulfilling required hours)
- Shift swapping – allowing employees to swap shifts to cover planned absences
- Childcare flexibility – providing time off for school runs, emergencies, or family commitments (link to next section).
You can find a range of examples of formal and informal flexible working arrangements from different SMEs in our Deeper Dive on Flexible Working.
We recognise that SMEs can face specific challenges when implementing flexible working. For instance, smaller teams can face difficulties ensuring adequate coverage when flexible work patterns are in place. Tight budgets can limit options such as job sharing or investing in technology to support remote work. Sometimes, ensuring that flexible working arrangements do not disrupt workflows can require careful planning and consideration. It can also seem challenging to ensure equal access to flexible working for all staff, regardless of job role.
Supportive Practices
In our Good Practice Examples (link) section, we provide examples of how our participating SMEs have managed to reduce or overcome these challenges and implemented strategies to facilitate flexible working arrangements, such as multi-skilling or adopting a life course approach to support, including in place-based settings where the provision of certain types of flexible working (e.g. working from home) are difficult or not an option.
What employees can do to help? Be proactive in finding solutions that work for all affected parties, i.e. themselves, their employer and colleagues affected by the flexible working arrangements (see Good Practice Examples – link to relevant case study).
