Flexible Working

Flexible working could be defined as a work practice that allows the employees the freedom to decide how the work will be done, e.g. working part time less than 35 hours a week to deciding how they would co-ordinate with their work rota with the other employees within the organisation. The employer sets the hour of work and times the employee needs to be able to work. Flexible working is now becoming more popular than in the past as staff are demanding to have have flexible hours to work so that they can have a work-life balance. Many companies however are offering this in order to retain its employees as it gives staff a chance to fit other commitments  and activities around there work life. (Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2010) suggested that 'flexible working was the ability of an organisation to adapt the size, composition, responsiveness and cost of the people inputs required to achieve organisational objectives'.

Three companies that offer flexible working

1) BT Call Centre: They offer its employees flexible working as they believe that employees should enjoy the physical and mental benefit of work-life balance and therefore offer flexible working. BT believe by working in a partnership with each other they can establish alternative working arrangements by ensuring that they are making their business more productive, cost effect effective and energized. British Telecom states the it understands that people have other interests outside work, and offer employees with flexible working in order for their employees to be motivated and therefore work harder.
2) B&Q: B&Q offers all its permanent employees with flexible working hours to suit their needs, they give them opportunities to achieve more balance between work and other commitments. Another thing they do is provide its employees with an enhancing 6.6 weeks annual leave per year.. B&Q also offers job shares where two people split there shift and offer part time working to suit there employees needs.      
3) Asda: Asda offers it employees with flexi-time where employees could improve their work-life balance. 'Asda flex' programme is aimed at encouraging its staff whether hourly paid or salaried, working within any part of the business to work flexible hours to suit their needs. Asda also offers it employees to take up to three years unpaid leave (career break) and also offer female workers a five day paid leave for IVF treatment and time off to donate blood, not to mention a 12 week paid leave for organ donation. Asda believe that by creating a flexible working approach they can support colleagues with their individual needs and emphasize on their core values.

Different types of flexibility

Part time - Working part time can be a good way of balancing your work and your personal commitments. If you work part time, you have the right to be treated fairly in comparison to your full time colleagues. There are no specific number of hours that makes someone full or part time, but a full time worker will usually work 35 hours or more a week. The reasons people work part time vary for each individual. It may be that you simply want a different work-life balance, or you may have caring responsibilities. One disadvantage of part time working is that the employee may not be up to date with the potential changes in the organisation. For example if there is a new computer system and the full time employees have been trained on it the part time worker will struggle to use the new system and extra training may have to be provided. (Drew et al, 1998) said that ' part time workers are more extensively used in establishments which introduces part-time employment for reasons which might be described as being part of a corporate strategy'.

Working from home - Homeworkers have their jobs (usually practical work) based in their home. Teleworkers also do their normal (usually office based) work from home. Both kinds of homeworking have potential drawbacks and advantages. Employment rights will depend on whether you are a worker, an your self-employed. A homeworker is anyone who only works from home. Many homeworkers in the UK are employed in manufacturing, making a wide range of items from footwear to car components. The main difference between 'homeworking' and 'teleworking' is that teleworkers, who may work full time from home, are usually doing office work rather than practical work and frequently make use of computers and other electronic devices to do their work and communicate directly with their office base. A benefit for working at home/teleworking is that it can be more flexible about the hours you work, allowing you to meet commitments at home e.g. childcare. A drawback could be that your employer is likely to insist that they must inspect your workstation to make sure its suitable, meaning you'll have to let them into your home. Management control is more difficult in multiple home locations than in a centralized office. Except at senior managerial and professional levels, working at home runs counter to established control mechanisms and policies of most corporations and government agencies (Guile, 2011).

Term time working - This is similar to part time working as it enables the employee to take more time off around school holidays. The main advantage if an employee is that if they have children, they can look after them during holidays and not worry about babysitters etc. An advantage to the employer, is that they can book in a replacement employee to cover the shift. However, a big issue with term time working is that a lot of companies get very busy during holidays and therefore may not have the staff to cover. For example, during the Christmas period when schools are closed. (McLaughin, 1992) said that 'working from home (8 per cent) and school term-time working 9 (6 per cent) were uncommon, whilst other practices such as school-hours shifts and regular seasonal or temporary work were very rare'.

Compressed hours - This is working your agreed hours over fewer days. An example would be if an an employer allows and employer to work less than 5 days a week, each day they missed must be made up by working overtime on the days that they do work. An advantage of this is that it enables the employee to take time off when they need but also get paid for the full working week as long they make up all the time. A disadvantage to working compressed hours is that the manager may want an employee to work on a certain day, however if they have already made up the time they wont have to come into work. According to the International Labour Office (Clerc, 1985) the most common example is a 40-hour week compressed into four days instead of the conventional five, with a longer working day of ten hours instead of eight.

Zero hours - This zero hours is a contract designed to create an 'on call' arrangement between employers and employee. The contract is used to cope with varying staff requirements where the employer is under no obligation to offer and employee work but when it does, the employee is required to accept the offer. An advantage to the employee is that it is a lot more flexible than being on a set contract allowing for a better work life balance. An advantage to the employer on the other hand is that they only need to give work and pay the employee when they are needed. An issue with this type of working is that employees could become very tired if shift are to frequent and could lead to mistakes and conflict in the workplace. In the UK according to (French et al, 2011) many employers (around 22%) use zero hour contracts in order to deal with work fluctuations, particularly seasonal variations. In main land Europe however, there is little evidence for this pattern of work.

Flextime - According to (Tatara, 2005) flextime is all the time designated as that part of the schedule of work hours within which the employee may choose his time of arrival and departure from the office. An advantage to the employee is that if they are busy in the mornings they can start late and the opposite if they are busy at night. An advantage to the manager is that employees will be working at their full potential if they are happy to start when they want. however a disadvantage comes if too many people want to start at a certain time and some cant, this could cause conflict in the workplace or staff may loose moral.

(Mooney et al, 2012) Studies have shown that flexible work arrangements reduce work-life conflict and increase job satisfaction e.g. Best Buy Co. Inc developed a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), which allows employees and managers to control when and where they work as long as they get the job done. A controlled study found that employees participating in ROWE benefited from the reduced work-family conflict (Kelly et al, 2011). This blog has shown that flexible working is very important for employees and employers for satisfaction of both parties. Employees need time for personal things they need to do out of work and employers, as they want the best of of their workforce. Overall flexible working has many advantages with a few difficulties that can arise from it but can help and increase production and morale in the workplace.



Bibliography:

Asda Launches Flexible Working {Online} Available from http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/05/19/45907/asda-launches-flexible-working-scheme.html {Accessed on 24/04/2012}

BT Work Life Blance {Online} Available from http://www.btplc.com/Careercentre/WhyjoinBT/Worklifebalance/Worklifebalance.htm {Accessed on 18/04/2012}

B&Q Benefits and Rewards {Online} Available from http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/corporate/content/careers/our_roles/benefits.jsp {Accessed on 24/04/2012}

Clerc, J, M. International Labour Office (1985) Introduction to Working Conditions and Environment. International Labour Office: Geneva. Pg 154

Drew, E.P. Emerek, R. Mahon, E. (1998) Women, work, and the family in Europe. Routledge Pg 103


French, R. Rayner, C. Rees, G. (2011) Organsizational Behaviour. 2nd Edition. Pg 270


Guile, B, R. (2011) Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Well-Being. Nation Academy of Engineering. Pg 343


McLaughlin, E. (1992) Understanding Unemployment: New Perspectives on Active Labour Market Policies. Routledge. Pg 176


Mooney, L.A. Knox, D. Schacht, C. (2012) Understanding Social Problems. 8th Edition.


Tatara, I, E. CCh Incorporated (2005) HR how-to: Work-life Benefits. CCH KnowledgePoint: Essential Hr Solutions. Pg. 107